Two people were confirmed dead Tuesday in the sinking of a fishing boat that sank off the South African coast in bad weather the previous night.

The body of one of the 19 passengers was pulled from the water Tuesday morning, while another body was found washed up on a beach Monday night, the SAPA news agency reported.

Two crew members, one of them the captain, managed to swim to the nearest beach, South African radio reported, three others were rescued by helicopters.

Rescuers were still searching for the 12 missing passengers, but rescuers said chances for finding them alive more than 12 hours after the Kingfisher sank were diminishing quickly.

The cause of the accident, which happened near Oyster Bay off South Africa's Eastern Cape province, was not yet known.

National Sea Rescue Institute spokesman Craig Lambinon said Monday rough sea conditions and gale force winds were making search and rescue operations difficult. Lambinon said an overturned life raft had been spotted.