300 People Missing In South Korea After Ship Sinks

Via CNN reports:

Rescue boats and helicopters scrambled Wednesday to find almost 300 passengers, including scores of high school students, missing after a ferry sank off the southwest coast of South Korea.

Of the 459 people on board, 164 have been rescued, the security ministry said.

The bodies of at least four people — a female and three males– were confirmed dead. About 292 remain unaccounted for, the ministry said.

The rescue operation was still underway Wednesday evening, hours after the ferry first sent out a distress signal.
Authorities could not immediately say what caused the ship to sink. The weather at the time of the incident was clear.

The ferry, Sewol, was carrying 325 students; 15 teachers; 30 crew members; and 89 other passengers.

The students were from Seoul’s Ansan Danwon High School. They left from the port city of Incheon, just west of Seoul, for a four-day trip to Jeju. The resort island is considered the Hawaii of Korea.

A rescued student, Lim Hyung Min, told CNN affiliate YTN that he heard a loud bump. Several off his classmates were flung off their feet. Everyone was ordered to don life jackets and jump, he said.

Lim said he jumped into the sea before swimming to a rescue vessel.

“I had to swim a bit to get to the boat to be rescued,” he said. “The water was so cold and I wanted to live.”
Soon, the 6,800-ton ferry sank. Only its white and blue hull remained above water.