many people were trapped inside

A multi-story ferry carrying 459 people, mostly high school students on

 an overnight trip to a tourist island, sank off South Korea's southern coast

Wednesday, leaving nearly 300 people missing despite a frantic, hours-long

 rescue by ships and helicopters. At least three people were confirmed dead

and 55 injured. The high number of people unaccounted for - likely trapped in the

 ship or floating in the ocean - raised fears that the death toll could rise drastically,

 making it one of South Korea's biggest ferry disasters since 1993 when 292 people died.

 

 

 One student, Lim Hyung-min, told broadcaster YTN after being rescued that he and

 

other students jumped into the ocean wearing life jackets and then swam to a nearby

 

rescue boat. "As the ferry was shaking and tilting, we all tripped and bumped into each

another," Lim said, adding that some people were bleeding. Once he jumped, the ocean

"was so cold. ... I was hurrying, thinking that I wanted to live." Local television stations

broadcast live pictures of the ship, Sewol, listing to its side and slowly sinking even as

passengers were jumping out or being winched up by helicopters. At least 87 vessels

and 18 aircraft swarmed around the stricken ship. Rescuers clambered over its sides,

pulling out passengers wearing orange life jackets. But the ship overturned completely

and continued to sink slowly. Within a few hours only its blue-and-white bow was seen

sticking out of the water. Very soon that too had disappeared. Some 160 coast guard

and navy divers searching for survivors inside the ship's wreckage, a few kilometers

(miles) from the shore of Byeongpung Island, which is not too far from the mainland. The

area is about 470 kilometers (290 miles) from Seoul. Those rescued - wet and many

without shoes - were brought to the nearby Jindo Island, where medical teams wrapped

them in pink blankets and checked them for injuries before settling them down on the

floor of a cavernous gymnasium hall. The ship had set sail from Incheon, a city in the

northern part of the country and the site of South Korea's main international airport, on

Tuesday night for an overnight, 14-hour journey to the tourist island of Jeju. About three

hours from its destination, the ferry sent a distress call at about 9 a.m. local time

Wednesday after it began listing to one side, according to the Ministry of Security and

Public Administration. Officials didn't know what caused it to sink, and said the focus

was still on rescuing survivors. Lee Gyeong-og, a vice minister for South Korea's Public

Administration and Security Ministry, said 30 crew members, 325 high school students,

15 school teachers and 89 non-student passengers were aboard the ship. Kang Byung-

kyu, a government minister, said the two dead are a female crew member and a male

believed to be a student. A third body was found in the water but details were sketchy.

He said 164 people were rescued, of whom 55 were injured. He said 292 people were

missing, likely either trapped inside the ship or floating in the ocean. Yonhap news

agency said the 146-meter (480-feet) -long ship, which travels twice a week between

Incheon and Jeju, was built in Japan in 1994 and could carry a maximum of 921 people,

180 vehicles and 152 shipping containers. The water temperature in the area was about

12 degrees Celsius (54 Fahrenheit), cold enough to cause signs of hypothermia after

about 1 1/2 to 2 hours of exposure, according to an emergency official who spoke on

condition of anonymity citing department rules. Officials said mud on the ocean floor

made underwater search operations difficult. It was not immediately known how deep

was the ocean floor. Passenger Kim Seong-mok told YTN that he was "certain" that

 

many people were trapped inside the ferry as water quickly rushed in and the severe tilt

of the vessel kept them from reaching the exits. Some people urged those who couldn't

get out of the ferry to break windows. Kim said that after having breakfast he felt the ferry

tilt and then heard it crash into something. He said the ferry operator made an

announcement asking that passengers wait and not move from their places. Kim said he

didn't hear any announcement telling passengers to escape. The students - half of them

boys and half girls- are from Ansan High School in Ansan city, which is near Seoul, and

were on their way to Jeju island for a four-day trip, according to a relief team set up by

Gyeonggi Province, which governs the city. There are faster ways to get to Jeju, but

some people take the ferry from Incheon because it is cheaper than flying. Many South

Korean high schools organize trips for students in their first or second years. The

students on the ferry were in their second year, which would make most of them 16 or

17. At the high school, students were sent home and parents gathered for news about

the ferry. Park Ji-hee, a first-year student, said she saw about a dozen parents crying

at the school entrance and many cars and taxis gathered at the gate as she left in the

morning. She said some students in her classroom began to cry as they saw the news

on their handsets. Teachers tried to soothe them, saying that the students on the ferry

would be fine. The Maritime Ministry said the two previous deadliest ferry disasters

 

 

were in 1970 when 323 people drowned and in 1993 when 292 people died.