Than 270 Missing As Ferry Sinks Off the Coast of South Korea
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04-16-2014 South Korea – Sinking of the Sewol -304 -2 PSDs Lost More than 270 missing as ferry sinks off the coast of South Korea https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/apr/16/rescuers-battle-to-save-476- passengers-after-ferry-sinks-off-south-korea April 16, 2014 Justin McCurry in Tokyo At least six reported dead and 55 injured as ships and helicopters race to save passengers, including children bound for holiday island. More than 270 people are still unaccounted for as efforts continue to rescue passengers aboard a South Korean ferry that sank off the country’s south-west coast on Wednesday morning. Officials said six of the ship’s 462 passengers had died, at least 55 are injured and 179 have been rescued. Many passengers - of which 300 are children - may have been trapped inside the vessel as it listed and sank. A total of 277 people remained missing. Dozens of coastguard and navy vessels were battling to rescue passengers, including 325 high school pupils and their teachers. A major rescue operation is now underway involving more than 30 coastguard and military ships, as well as about a dozen helicopters. Authorities said the dead included a female crew Rescue workers retrieve survivors. member in her early 20 and two male high school students. A coast guard officer confirmed a fourth fatality but had no immediate details about it. PSDiver Magazine www.PSDiver.com Page 1 South Korean coastguards on the rescue operation around the stricken passenger ferry Sewol on Wednesday. Photograph: Yonhap/EPA There were conflicting reports throughout the morning of the number of people who had been rescued. Four hours after the accident, Yonhap said 368 people had been confirmed as safe, including 13 injured, with a further 107 unaccounted for. The Sewol, a car and passenger ferry, sent out a distress signal shortly before 9am local time. The 6,852-tonne vessel had been en route from the western port of Incheon to the southern resort island of Jeju, located about 100 kilometres (60 miles) off the mainland, when it reportedly hit rocks and began listing severely. PSDiver Magazine www.PSDiver.com Page 2 Early reports by some South Korean media indicated that all 338 high school pupils and their teachers were safe following a huge rescue operation involving civilian and military vessels, and helicopters. But as reports emerged that two people were dead, YTN, a major TV network, withdrew the report and said it had yet to confirm the safety of all of the members of the school party. The area had been shrouded in fog overnight, leading to the cancellation of many ferry services to islands. But news reports said visibility in the area was fair on Wednesday morning. Coastguards rescuing passengers and crew aboard the South Korean ferry Sewol which sank on Wednesday on its way to Jeju island from Incheon. Photograph: AFP/Getty Images Passenger testimony indicated that the ship had struck rocks about 20 km off the coast of Byungpoong island. "We heard a big thumping sound and the boat stopped," one passenger told the YTN by telephone. "The boat is tilting and we have to hold on to something to stay seated." Another told the network that at least one helicopter had reached the vessel, adding that other passengers had remained in their cabins soon after the accident but were having trouble keeping their balance. PSDiver Magazine www.PSDiver.com Page 3 Other reports said passengers had been told to put on lifejackets and jump into the sea amid fears that the vessel was on the verge of sinking. News footage showed that at least one lifeboat aboard the ferry had been deployed. "The ship is taking in water and sinking," a coastguard spokesman An injured passenger is stretchered by rescue told AFP by phone as the personnel after ferry Sewol sank in waters off South rescue operation got Korea on Wednesday. Photograph: Yonhap/EPA under way. "There are around 450 people on board and we have coastguard vessels, commercial ships in the area, as well as helicopters all engaged in the rescue operation," the spokesman added. Rescued passengers, wrapped in blankets, being brought onto land in Jindo after the ferry disaster. Photograph: Yonhap/AFP/Getty Images A total of 18 helicopters and 34 rescue boats have been sent to the area, Lee Gyeong-og, a government vice minister, told a televised news conference. He added that the South Korean president, Park Geun-hye had urged rescue teams to do their utmost to save everyone on board. PSDiver Magazine www.PSDiver.com Page 4 The pupils, from Danwon high school in Ansan city near Seoul, were on their way to Jeju, a popular tourist destination, for a four-day study trip. The ship left Incheon port on Tuesday evening, according to local maritime officials, and was due to arrive at Jeju later on Wednesday. Dramatic images on South Korean TV showed the capsized ship tilted 45 degrees on its port side. Later, the vessel appeared to have inverted and was almost completely submerged. Ferry sinks off coast of South Korea - in pictures https://www.theguardian.com/world/gallery/2014/apr/16/ferry-sinks-south-korea-in- pictures 16 April 2014 Joanna Ruck Nearly 300 hundred people are still missing after a ferry sank off the coast of South Korea. The coastguard and navy are battling to rescue passengers including a school party South Korean rescue helicopters fly over a passenger ship as it sinks off the country's southern coast. Photograph: AP PSDiver Magazine www.PSDiver.com Page 5 Passengers are rescued by the coastguard. Photograph: AP South Korean coastguard officers try to rescue passengers. Photograph: Hyung Min woo/AP PSDiver Magazine www.PSDiver.com Page 6 Rescue team boats and fishing boats try to save passengers from the rapidly sinking ferry. Photograph: AP PSDiver Magazine www.PSDiver.com Page 7 Passengers are rescued by the South Korean coastguard. Photograph: Getty Images Passengers are rescued by a South Korean coastguard helicopter. Photograph: AP PSDiver Magazine www.PSDiver.com Page 8 An injured passenger is treated after being rescued by South Korean maritime police. Photograph: Yonhap/Reuters A rescued girl being brought on to land in Jindo. Photograph: Yonhap/AFP/Getty Images PSDiver Magazine www.PSDiver.com Page 9 The mother of a passenger on the ferry reacts as she finds her son’s name on the list of survivors. Photograph: Kim Hong ji/Reuters Rescued passengers at a gym in Jindo. Photograph: Kim Hong ji/Reuters PSDiver Magazine www.PSDiver.com Page 10 Relatives wait for news of the missing people at a harbor in Jindo. Photograph: Jung Yeon Je/AFP/Getty Images Parents and relatives check the rescued passengers lists at a gymnasium in Jindo. Photograph: AP PSDiver Magazine www.PSDiver.com Page 11 Maritime police search for missing passengers as night begins to fall. Photograph: Kim Hong Ji/Reuters Relatives of missing people wait at a Jindo port for news. Photograph: Chung Sung Jun/Getty Images PSDiver Magazine www.PSDiver.com Page 12 South Korea ferry disaster survivors describe chaotic scenes https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/apr/16/south-korea-ferry-sewol- disaster-chaotic-scenes-boat April 16, 2014 Justin McCurry in Tokyo Some petrified passengers jumped into sea before Sewol sank but many more were thought to be trapped on board. Survivors of Wednesday's ferry accident off the coast of South Korea have described chaotic scenes after the vessel listed and started to sink, possibly after running aground, forcing petrified passengers to jump into the sea before it disappeared beneath the water. As dozens of boats, helicopters and a team of South Korean navy personnel frantically tried to locate as many as 295 missing passengers before darkness set in, survivors recalled their dramatic escape bids. Lim Hyung-min, one of a group of 325 high school pupils aboard the Sewol, told the told the YTN network that he had put on a life jacket and jumped into the sea with other pupils, before swimming to a nearby rescue boat. "As the ferry was shaking and tilting, we all tripped and bumped into each another," Lim said from a gymnasium on a nearby island, where he and other survivors were being treated. Lim described the sea as "so cold … I was hurrying, thinking that I wanted to live." Some of the other passengers were bleeding, he added. Photographs from the scene showed soaked pupils, some wrapped in blankets, being treated by emergency workers on the island. Other survivors said they feared the death toll would rise significantly as they believed dozens of people were still trapped inside the ferry after it listed and then sank into the sea about 20km (12 miles) from the coast of Byungpoong island about two hours after issuing a distress signal. Kim Seong-mok told YTN he was certain people were trapped inside the ship as water levels quickly rose inside. The vessel's severe tilt prevented many from PSDiver Magazine www.PSDiver.com Page 13 reaching exits from where they might have been able to leap into the sea to be picked up by rescue boats. Some people yelled at those who couldn't get out, urging them to break windows, said Kim, who had just eaten breakfast when he felt the ferry tilt and then crash into something. The ferry operator reportedly asked passengers to stay inside their cabins, Kim said, adding that he had not heard an announcement urging people to leave the ship before it sank. "There was a bang and then the ship suddenly tilted over," Yonhap quoted a 57- year-old survivor as saying.