One day after the ferry disaster sending a blow to the travel and tourism industry in Korea's holiday island Jeju, 287 passengers, mostly students, are still missing. Five students, two teachers, a 20 year old staff member and one more person were confirmed dead. Many were injured.
The students on the ferry were in their second year, which would make most of them 16 or 17.
Strong currents, rain and bad visibility made an increasingly desperate search even more difficult.
There were 475 people aboard, and some of the frantic parents of the 325 student tour passengers who had been heading to Jeju island for a four-day trip gathered at Danwon High School in Ansan near Seoul.
Relatives of the three dead students wailed and sobbed as ambulances at a hospital in Mokpo, a city close to the accident site, took the bodies to Ansan. The families, who spent a mostly sleepless night at the hospital, followed the ambulances in their own cars.
Meanwhile, more than 400 rescuers searched nearby waters overnight and into Thursday morning. The Korean coast guard stated three vessels with cranes onboard would arrive to help with the rescue and salvage the ship. Divers worked round the clock in shifts in an attempt to get inside the vessel, he said. But the current wouldn't allow them to enter.
The 60 year old captain was questioned and stated on TV he was deeply sorry and ashamed.
The Sewol, a 146-meter (480-foot) vessel that can reportedly 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.
The Associated Press reported that many people were trapped inside by windows that were too hard to break.
The water temperature in the area was about 12 degrees Celsius (54 Fahrenheit), cold enough to cause signs of hypothermia after about 90 minutes of exposure. Officials said the ocean was 37 meters (121 feet) deep in the area.
The survivors — wet, stunned and many without shoes — were brought to Jindo, where medical teams wrapped them in pink blankets and checked for injuries before taking them to a cavernous gymnasium.
As the search dragged on, families of the missing gathered at a nearby dock, some crying and holding each other.
Angry shouts could be heard when Prime Minister Chung Hong-won visited a shelter where relatives of the missing passengers waited for news. Some yelled that the government should have sent more divers to search the wreckage.
The students on the ferry were in their second year, which would make most of them 16 or 17.
Strong currents, rain and bad visibility made an increasingly desperate search even more difficult.
There were 475 people aboard, and some of the frantic parents of the 325 student tour passengers who had been heading to Jeju island for a four-day trip gathered at Danwon High School in Ansan near Seoul.
Relatives of the three dead students wailed and sobbed as ambulances at a hospital in Mokpo, a city close to the accident site, took the bodies to Ansan. The families, who spent a mostly sleepless night at the hospital, followed the ambulances in their own cars.
Meanwhile, more than 400 rescuers searched nearby waters overnight and into Thursday morning. The Korean coast guard stated three vessels with cranes onboard would arrive to help with the rescue and salvage the ship. Divers worked round the clock in shifts in an attempt to get inside the vessel, he said. But the current wouldn't allow them to enter.
The 60 year old captain was questioned and stated on TV he was deeply sorry and ashamed.
The Sewol, a 146-meter (480-foot) vessel that can reportedly 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.
The Associated Press reported that many people were trapped inside by windows that were too hard to break.
The water temperature in the area was about 12 degrees Celsius (54 Fahrenheit), cold enough to cause signs of hypothermia after about 90 minutes of exposure. Officials said the ocean was 37 meters (121 feet) deep in the area.
The survivors — wet, stunned and many without shoes — were brought to Jindo, where medical teams wrapped them in pink blankets and checked for injuries before taking them to a cavernous gymnasium.
As the search dragged on, families of the missing gathered at a nearby dock, some crying and holding each other.
Angry shouts could be heard when Prime Minister Chung Hong-won visited a shelter where relatives of the missing passengers waited for news. Some yelled that the government should have sent more divers to search the wreckage.
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