April 16, 2014
MOKPO, South Korea - Fears rose Thursday for the fate of 287 passengers still missing more than 24 hours after their ferry flipped onto its side and filled with water off the southern coast of South Korea.
A coast guard official said the death toll was now confirmed at nine, but that is expected to rise sharply because the missing have now spent more than a day either trapped in the ferry or in the cold seawater.
There were 475 people aboard – many of them high school students on a class trip – and frantic parents have gathered at their school near Seoul and in Mokpo in the south of the country, not far from where the ferry slipped beneath the surface until only the blue-tipped, forward edge of the keel was visible.
Divers, helicopters and boats continued their search Thursday for survivors, but the high number of people unaccounted for – possibly trapped in the ship or floating in the chilly water nearby – raised fears that the death toll could increase drastically.
South Korean news outlets reported that many of the passengers sent text messages to loved ones as they awaited rescue, but on Thursday police told the Yonhap News Agency that those messages had been faked.
Coast guard spokesman Cho Man-yong said Thursday morning that rescuers in a vessel had found another body floating in the sea, raising the confirmed death toll to seven. Hours later, officials said the toll had climbed to nine.
It was still unknown why the ferry sank. CBS News’ Seth Doane reported that many survivors said they heard a loud crash before the ship began to tilt badly. Coast guard officials were interviewing the captain and crew.