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| Hundreds Missing After South Korean Ferry Sinks | Hundreds Missing After South Korean Ferry Sinks |
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| SEOUL, South Korea — More than 280 people, most of them students, remained unaccounted for Wednesday night as coast guard and navy divers searched a ferry that sank hours earlier off the southwestern tip of South Korea. | |
| By midnight, six people were confirmed dead, including three 17-year-old high school students and a member of the ferry’s crew. But fears that the sinking could become one of the worst peacetime disasters in the country increased as rescued passengers told news outlets that they believed that many people had been trapped below deck after those aboard heard a loud noise and the ship began sinking rapidly. | |
| Some rescued passengers who had been below deck told reporters that even while the ship was tilting, they were told to stay in their seats. | Some rescued passengers who had been below deck told reporters that even while the ship was tilting, they were told to stay in their seats. |
| “We must not give up,” President Park Geun-hye said from the headquarters of the Ministry of Security and Public Administration, which is coordinating the rescue efforts. “We must do our best to rescue even one of those passengers and students who may not have escaped from the ship.” | “We must not give up,” President Park Geun-hye said from the headquarters of the Ministry of Security and Public Administration, which is coordinating the rescue efforts. “We must do our best to rescue even one of those passengers and students who may not have escaped from the ship.” |
| Lee Gyeong-og, vice minister of security and public administration, said that 160 navy and coast guard divers were working at the scene, but that their operations were hampered by rapid currents and poor underwater visibility. | Lee Gyeong-og, vice minister of security and public administration, said that 160 navy and coast guard divers were working at the scene, but that their operations were hampered by rapid currents and poor underwater visibility. |
| Among the passengers were 325 students from Danwon High School in Ansan, south of Seoul. So far, 75 of them are known to have been rescued. The students were on an overnight voyage to Jeju, a popular resort island, where they had been scheduled to arrive Wednesday morning for a four-day field trip and sightseeing. | Among the passengers were 325 students from Danwon High School in Ansan, south of Seoul. So far, 75 of them are known to have been rescued. The students were on an overnight voyage to Jeju, a popular resort island, where they had been scheduled to arrive Wednesday morning for a four-day field trip and sightseeing. |
| The ministry reported that a total of 175 passengers and crew members were known to have been rescued; given the known deaths, that left 281 of the 462 people on the ferry unaccounted for. Earlier in the day, the ministry had issued different figures, including a much lower estimate for the number of missing; it attributed the mistakes to confusing reports from the scene. | |
| The cause of the accident was not immediately clear. The South Korean news media cited unidentified passengers as saying that the ship had begun leaning severely after a loud impact. The ship later capsized and sank, with only its tip protruding from the water. So far, no South Korean official or analyst is raising the possibility of foul play by North Korea, which was accused of sinking a South Korean Navy ship with a torpedo in 2010. The North denied involvement in the 2010 explosion, in which 46 sailors were killed. | The cause of the accident was not immediately clear. The South Korean news media cited unidentified passengers as saying that the ship had begun leaning severely after a loud impact. The ship later capsized and sank, with only its tip protruding from the water. So far, no South Korean official or analyst is raising the possibility of foul play by North Korea, which was accused of sinking a South Korean Navy ship with a torpedo in 2010. The North denied involvement in the 2010 explosion, in which 46 sailors were killed. |
| During a brief news conference, Kim Young-bung, an executive at the Cheonghaejin Marine Company, which operated the ship, offered the company’s “deepest apology” but little detail on what might have caused the ferry to sink. | During a brief news conference, Kim Young-bung, an executive at the Cheonghaejin Marine Company, which operated the ship, offered the company’s “deepest apology” but little detail on what might have caused the ferry to sink. |
| Maritime police said they were questioning the ship’s captain, Lee Jun-seok, 69, and other surviving crew members while arranging for cranes to be dispatched to the scene to try to lift the vessel. | |
| The 6,825-ton ferry, the Sewol, was sailing from Incheon, a port west of Seoul, to Jeju, roughly 60 miles off the south coast of South Korea, when it sent a distress signal Wednesday morning, setting off the rescue operation. The ship, built in Japan in 1994 and operated by Cheonghaejin Marine since late 2012, had a 920-passenger capacity. | The 6,825-ton ferry, the Sewol, was sailing from Incheon, a port west of Seoul, to Jeju, roughly 60 miles off the south coast of South Korea, when it sent a distress signal Wednesday morning, setting off the rescue operation. The ship, built in Japan in 1994 and operated by Cheonghaejin Marine since late 2012, had a 920-passenger capacity. |
| A 27-year-old female crew member was found dead in the water, and a male student died while being treated at a hospital. Rescuers later found two more students from the Ansan school, as well as two victims whose identities were not immediately clear. | |
| Some parents gathered at a pier at Jindo, a major island near the site of the sinking, waiting for coast guard ships to bring news from the scene. In an indoor gym there that local officials turned into a temporary shelter for students who had been rescued, mothers collapsed in tears when they did not see their children’s names on the list of those rescued, according to South Korean television footage. | Some parents gathered at a pier at Jindo, a major island near the site of the sinking, waiting for coast guard ships to bring news from the scene. In an indoor gym there that local officials turned into a temporary shelter for students who had been rescued, mothers collapsed in tears when they did not see their children’s names on the list of those rescued, according to South Korean television footage. |
| South Korea has not had a major ferry accident in two decades. The last was in 1994, when a tourist ferry caught fire on a lake, killing 30 people. A year earlier, 292 people died when an overloaded ferry, sailing despite warnings of bad weather, sank off the country’s west coast. | South Korea has not had a major ferry accident in two decades. The last was in 1994, when a tourist ferry caught fire on a lake, killing 30 people. A year earlier, 292 people died when an overloaded ferry, sailing despite warnings of bad weather, sank off the country’s west coast. |
| Mr. Lee of the security ministry declined to comment on the likelihood of finding more survivors. But a sharp increase in the death toll was feared as ships, helicopters and divers expanded their search, with no immediate results. Divers were trying to make their way into chambers of the ship where passengers were reported to have been trapped. | Mr. Lee of the security ministry declined to comment on the likelihood of finding more survivors. But a sharp increase in the death toll was feared as ships, helicopters and divers expanded their search, with no immediate results. Divers were trying to make their way into chambers of the ship where passengers were reported to have been trapped. |
| The ship’s departure from Incheon on Tuesday evening was delayed by two hours because of heavy fog off the west coast of South Korea, officials said. The ship was also carrying 150 cars and trucks, below the capacity of 180. | The ship’s departure from Incheon on Tuesday evening was delayed by two hours because of heavy fog off the west coast of South Korea, officials said. The ship was also carrying 150 cars and trucks, below the capacity of 180. |
| Local news media quoted rescued passengers as saying that people in the ferry’s cafeteria and game room, below the main passenger decks, might not have escaped. | Local news media quoted rescued passengers as saying that people in the ferry’s cafeteria and game room, below the main passenger decks, might not have escaped. |
| “The internal broadcast advised us to remain in our seats,” the national news agency Yonhap quoted a 57-year-old passenger, identified only by his surname, Yoo, as saying. “But I could not stay put because the water was coming up. So I came outside with my life jacket on.” | “The internal broadcast advised us to remain in our seats,” the national news agency Yonhap quoted a 57-year-old passenger, identified only by his surname, Yoo, as saying. “But I could not stay put because the water was coming up. So I came outside with my life jacket on.” |
| “I wonder why they didn’t tell us to evacuate immediately,” he added. | “I wonder why they didn’t tell us to evacuate immediately,” he added. |
| By the time many passengers tried to escape, it was too late, Kim Seong-muk, a rescued passenger, said in an interview with the all-news cable channel YTN. “People were shouting, ‘Break the windows!’ but the water came up too quickly and many could not come outside,” he said. | By the time many passengers tried to escape, it was too late, Kim Seong-muk, a rescued passenger, said in an interview with the all-news cable channel YTN. “People were shouting, ‘Break the windows!’ but the water came up too quickly and many could not come outside,” he said. |
| Kim Tae-young, a student, also remembered seeing many passengers in the cafeteria and game room when the ship began leaning. | Kim Tae-young, a student, also remembered seeing many passengers in the cafeteria and game room when the ship began leaning. |
| “The water rushed in, up to my neck, and it was difficult to climb to the top of the boat because it was badly tilted,” Mr. Kim told News Y, another cable channel. “I saw shipping containers tossed off the ship’s deck and floating in the water. I also saw a vending machine toppled and two girls trapped under it.” | “The water rushed in, up to my neck, and it was difficult to climb to the top of the boat because it was badly tilted,” Mr. Kim told News Y, another cable channel. “I saw shipping containers tossed off the ship’s deck and floating in the water. I also saw a vending machine toppled and two girls trapped under it.” |
| YTN quoted students describing a chaotic scene in which passengers tripped and bumped into one another and luggage was tossed about as the ship leaned deeply and water came in. They jumped into the water in life jackets and swam to fishing boats nearby, they said. The passengers were wrapped in blankets and taken to shelters and hospitals in nearby ports. | YTN quoted students describing a chaotic scene in which passengers tripped and bumped into one another and luggage was tossed about as the ship leaned deeply and water came in. They jumped into the water in life jackets and swam to fishing boats nearby, they said. The passengers were wrapped in blankets and taken to shelters and hospitals in nearby ports. |
| In a text message shown on the station’s broadcast, a student had written: “Dad, I can’t walk out because the ship is tilted too much, and I don’t see anyone in the corridor.” | In a text message shown on the station’s broadcast, a student had written: “Dad, I can’t walk out because the ship is tilted too much, and I don’t see anyone in the corridor.” |
| The ship sank in waters 104 feet deep, and the water temperature in the area was about 54 degrees Fahrenheit, cold enough to cause hypothermia after about two hours, officials said. | The ship sank in waters 104 feet deep, and the water temperature in the area was about 54 degrees Fahrenheit, cold enough to cause hypothermia after about two hours, officials said. |
| Kim Dong-soo, a truck driver who said he frequently took the ferry to Jeju and who was on the Sewol, told News Y that the ship began leaning sharply after it made a sharp turn to the right. It was also sailing much closer to the coast than it usually does, he said. | Kim Dong-soo, a truck driver who said he frequently took the ferry to Jeju and who was on the Sewol, told News Y that the ship began leaning sharply after it made a sharp turn to the right. It was also sailing much closer to the coast than it usually does, he said. |
| “I wonder why the rescuers who first got to the ship didn’t do anything about those 100 or 200 I think were trapped inside the ship,” he said. “They were just picking up those already on the top of the ship.” | “I wonder why the rescuers who first got to the ship didn’t do anything about those 100 or 200 I think were trapped inside the ship,” he said. “They were just picking up those already on the top of the ship.” |
| The United States Navy’s amphibious assault ship Bonhomme Richard was standing by to assist in the rescue operations, the Seventh Fleet said in a news release. The ship was on a routine patrol in waters west of the Korean Peninsula at the time of the sinking, it said. It is equipped with MV-22 Osprey aircraft, MH-60 helicopters and small boats capable of conducting search and rescue operations. | The United States Navy’s amphibious assault ship Bonhomme Richard was standing by to assist in the rescue operations, the Seventh Fleet said in a news release. The ship was on a routine patrol in waters west of the Korean Peninsula at the time of the sinking, it said. It is equipped with MV-22 Osprey aircraft, MH-60 helicopters and small boats capable of conducting search and rescue operations. |
| South Korean television footage showed coast guard helicopters pulling passengers off the ship. Pictures released by the coast guard showed rescue ships and inflatable lifeboats in waters near the ferry. The waters were strewn with debris. | South Korean television footage showed coast guard helicopters pulling passengers off the ship. Pictures released by the coast guard showed rescue ships and inflatable lifeboats in waters near the ferry. The waters were strewn with debris. |