Jindo (South Korea): Efforts to search for the missing ferry entered
into a second day on Thursday as emergency teams continued to look for
hundreds of passengers who remain unacounted for after ferry Sewol
carrying 475 people sank off South Korea.
The death toll has risen from six to nine, leaving 287 people missing.
The ferry, which had mostly students and teachers on board for a field trip, was going from port of Incheon to resort island of Jeju, when something struk the ship and it started tilting and ank within just two hours of a distress call made at 9 am on Wednesday.
So far, 179 passengers have been rescued.
Divers, helicopters and boats continued their search Thursday for survivors, but the high number of people unaccounted for — possibly trapped in the ship or floating in the chilly water nearby — raised fears that the death toll could increase drastically.
Other than South Korean Coast Guard and navy divers, also assisting in search is a US Navy ship USS Bonhomme Richard, an amphibious assault ship, which is on stand by.
It was still unknown why the ferry sank, but coast guard officials were interviewing the captain and crew. The Sewol, a 146-meter (480-foot) vessel that can hold more than 900 people, set sail Tuesday from Incheon, in northwestern South Korea, on an overnight, 14-hour journey to the tourist island of Jeju.
The ferry was three hours from its destination when it sent a distress call after it began listing to one side, according to the Ministry of Security and Public Administration.
Passenger Kim Seong-mok told broadcaster YTN that after having breakfast, he felt the ferry tilt and then heard it crash into something. He said he was certain that many people were trapped inside the ferry as water rushed in and the severe tilt of the vessel kept them from reaching the exits.
"The rescue wasn't done well. We were wearing life jackets. We had
time," Koo, who was on a business trip to Jeju with a co-worker, said
from a hospital bed in Mokpo, the nearest major city to the site of the
accident, where he was treated for minor injuries. "If people had jumped
into the water ... they could have been rescued. But we were told not
to go out."
The Sewol's wreckage is in waters a little north of Byeongpung Island,
which is not far from the mainland and about 470 kilometers (290 miles)
from Seoul.
The death toll has risen from six to nine, leaving 287 people missing.
The ferry, which had mostly students and teachers on board for a field trip, was going from port of Incheon to resort island of Jeju, when something struk the ship and it started tilting and ank within just two hours of a distress call made at 9 am on Wednesday.
So far, 179 passengers have been rescued.
Divers, helicopters and boats continued their search Thursday for survivors, but the high number of people unaccounted for — possibly trapped in the ship or floating in the chilly water nearby — raised fears that the death toll could increase drastically.
Other than South Korean Coast Guard and navy divers, also assisting in search is a US Navy ship USS Bonhomme Richard, an amphibious assault ship, which is on stand by.
It was still unknown why the ferry sank, but coast guard officials were interviewing the captain and crew. The Sewol, a 146-meter (480-foot) vessel that can hold more than 900 people, set sail Tuesday from Incheon, in northwestern South Korea, on an overnight, 14-hour journey to the tourist island of Jeju.
The ferry was three hours from its destination when it sent a distress call after it began listing to one side, according to the Ministry of Security and Public Administration.
Passenger Kim Seong-mok told broadcaster YTN that after having breakfast, he felt the ferry tilt and then heard it crash into something. He said he was certain that many people were trapped inside the ferry as water rushed in and the severe tilt of the vessel kept them from reaching the exits.
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