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With Hundreds Missing, Divers Search Sunken South Korean Ferry With Hundreds Missing, Divers Search Sunken South Korean Ferry
(about 1 hour later)
SEOUL, South Korea — Coast guard and navy divers were searching a ferry Wednesday after it sank off the southwestern tip of South Korea while bringing hundreds of high school students to a resort island. Two people were confirmed dead, but the South Korean government said that as many as 290 people were unaccounted for, dramatically revising an earlier estimate. SEOUL, South Korea — Nearly 300 people, most of them students, remained unaccounted for Wednesday as coast guard and navy divers continued to search a ferry that had sunk hours earlier off the southwestern tip of South Korea.
Fears of a major disaster increased as rescued passengers told South Korean news outlets that they believed many people had been trapped on the ship, which tilted quickly to one side and began sinking. By early evening, only two people were confirmed dead, a high school student and a member of the ferry’s crew. But fears of a major disaster increased as rescued passengers told South Korean news outlets that they believed many people had been trapped below deck Wednesday morning, as the ship tilted rapidly to one side and began sinking.
The South Korean Ministry of Security and Public Administration initially said that 368 of the 477 passengers and crew members on the ferry were known to have been rescued. But it later revised its figures, saying that about 290 people remained unaccounted for. It attributed the mistake to confusing reports from the rescue scene. “We are doing our best to try to rescue even one more survivor,” Lee Gyeong-og, a vice minister of security and public administration, said at a briefing. “We have 160 navy and coast guard divers working at the scene, but underwater visibility is not great.”
Lee Gyeong-og, a vice minister in charge of the central government’s emergency response team, said that the actual number of people rescued could be higher than the government’s count, since many passengers had been picked up by fishing boats and taken to different ports on the islands scattered in the region. Among the passengers were 325 students from Danwon High School in Ansan, south of Seoul. They 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 that included sightseeing.
But the national news agency Yonhap quoted one rescued passenger as saying that people in the ferry’s cafeteria and game room below the main passenger decks might not have escaped. Mr. Lee’s ministry reported that 164 passengers and crew members were known to have been rescued; accounting for the known deaths, that left 293 of the 459 people on the ferry unaccounted for. Earlier in the day, the ministry had issued different figures, including a much lower estimate of the missing; it attributed the mistakes to confusing reports from the rescue scene.
“The internal broadcast advised us to remain in our seats,” Yonhap quoted the 57-year-old passenger, identified only by his last name, Yoo, as saying. “But I could not stay put because the water was coming up. So I came outside with my life jacket on.” Mr. Lee declined to comment on whether the government believed that most of the missing should be presumed dead. 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.
Local 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.”
“I wonder why they didn’t tell us to evacuate immediately,” he added, according to Yonhap.“I wonder why they didn’t tell us to evacuate immediately,” he added, according to Yonhap.
Officials said a high school student and a crew member were known to have been killed. Kim Tae-young, a student who had been rescued, also remembered seeing many passengers in the cafeteria and game room when the ship began tilting.
“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, an all-news 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 cause of the accident was not immediately clear. The South Korean news media cited unidentified passengers rescued from the ship as saying that the ship had begun tilting severely after a loud impact. The ship later capsized and sank, with only its tip protruding from the water.The cause of the accident was not immediately clear. The South Korean news media cited unidentified passengers rescued from the ship as saying that the ship had begun tilting severely after a loud impact. The ship later capsized and sank, with only its tip protruding from the water.
The 6,825-ton ferry, the Sewol, was sailing from Incheon, a port west of Seoul, to the resort island of Jeju, which is 60 miles off the south coast of South Korea, on Wednesday morning when it sent a distress signal, triggering the rescue operation. Among the passengers were 325 students from Danwon High School in Ansan, south of Seoul. The 6,825-ton ferry, the Sewol, was sailing from Incheon, a port west of Seoul, to Jeju, which is 60 miles off the south coast of South Korea, on Wednesday morning when it sent a distress signal, triggering the rescue operation.
The 24-hour news channel YTN quoted students as describing a chaotic scene in which passengers tripped and bumped into one another as the ship tilted and water came in. They said they jumped into the water in life jackets and swam to fishing boats that were arriving on the scene. One 27-year-old female crew member was found dead in the water, and a male student died while being treated at a hospital.
Parents gathered at the Ansan school waiting for news. Others were rushing to ports in southwestern South Korea hoping to meet their children there. Some of them first learned of the accident when their children called them from the ship. Local television showed students who had not joined the trip weeping at the news.
Coast guard and navy ships, along with fishing boats, rushed to the scene. South Korean television footage showed coast guard helicopters pulling passengers off the badly tilting ship. It also showed students swaddled in blankets after being plucked from the water.
Pictures released by the coast guard showed rescue ships and inflatable lifeboats in waters near the ferry. The waters were strewn with debris.
The students were on an overnight voyage to Jeju, where they had been scheduled to arrive on Wednesday morning for a four-day field trip that included sightseeing. Their 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 ferry was also carrying 150 cars and trucks.
South Korea has not had a major ferry accident in two decades, though they were once more common. The last was in 1994, when a tourist ferry caught fire on a lake, killing 30 people. The previous year, 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, though they were once more common. The last was in 1994, when a tourist ferry caught fire on a lake, killing 30 people. The previous year, 292 people died when an overloaded ferry, sailing despite warnings of bad weather, sank off the country’s west coast.
The 24-hour news channel YTN quoted students as describing a chaotic scene in which passengers tripped and bumped into one another as the ship tilted and water came in. They said they jumped into the water in life jackets and swam to fishing boats that were arriving on the scene. They were later wrapped in blankets and taken to shelters and hospitals in nearby ports.
The ship sank in waters 104 feet deep, and the water temperature in the area was about 54 Fahrenheit, cold enough to cause signs of hypothermia after about two hours, according to officials.
Kim Dong-soo, a truck driver who said he frequently took the same ferry to Jeju, told the cable channel News Y that the ship began tilting after making 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.”
Parents gathered at the Ansan school waiting for news. Others were rushing to ports in southwestern South Korea hoping to meet their children there. Some of them first learned of the accident when their children called them from the ship. Local television showed students who had not joined the trip weeping at the news.
South Korean television footage showed coast guard helicopters pulling passengers off the badly tilting ship. Pictures released by the coast guard showed rescue ships and inflatable lifeboats in waters near the ferry. The waters were strewn with debris.
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.