JINDO, South Korea - Rescuers and dive teams worked frantically Thursday morning under floodlights as fears rose for nearly 300 people missing after a ferry sank the previous day with 475 on board, mostly high school students bound for a holiday island.
Divers search the Sewol, a 6,800-tonne passenger ship owned by Chonghaejin Marine Co, 20 kilometres off the coast of Jindo, South Korea.
The passengers included 375 students from a high school in Ansan, a town just south of Seoul. They were travelling with 14 of their teachers to the popular island resort of Jeju, Yonhap said.
"I feel so pained to see students on a school trip... face such a tragic accident. I want you to pour all your energy into this mission," President Park Geun-Hye said on a visit to the national disaster agency's situation room in Seoul.
Yonhap news agency said 179 people had been rescued, citing national coastguard officials, leaving 290 unaccounted for. There were six confirmed deaths, including a female crew member and a student.
There are concerns the death toll could rise sharply. The 6,825-tonne Sewol listed violently, capsized and finally sank - all within two hours of sending a distress signal at 9am Wednesday (7am Thailand time).
"I'm afraid there's little chance for those trapped inside still to be alive," one senior rescue team official, Cho Yang-Bok, told YTN television as divers struggled to access the submerged multi-deck ferry.
Dramatic television footage showed terrified passengers wearing life jackets clambering into inflatable boats with water lapping over the rails of the vessel as it sank 20 kilometres off the southern island of Byungpoong.
Some slid down the steeply inclined side of the ferry and into the water as rescuers, including the crew of what appeared to be a small fishing boat, pulled them to safety.
As night fell, the coastguard said the rescue operation was continuing using floodlights and underwater flares.
"We won't give up, although the situation is extremely worrying," a coastguard spokesman said.
Parents and relatives check the rescued passengers lists at a gymnasium in Jindo. (AP Photo)
Several rescued passengers said they had initially been told to remain in their cabins and seats, but then the ferry listed hard to one side, triggering panic.
"The crew kept telling us not to move," one male survivor told the YTN news channel.
"Then it suddenly shifted over and people slid to one side and it became very difficult to get out," he added.
Many of the survivors were plucked from the water by fishing and other commercial vessels who were first on the scene before a flotilla of coastguard and navy ships arrived, backed by more than a dozen helicopters.
Lee Gyeong-Og, the vice minister of security and public administration, said 178 divers, including a team of South Korean navy SEALS, were working at the site, but low water visibility and strong currents were hampering their efforts.
The US 7th Fleet sent an amphibious assault ship on patrol in the area to help while White House spokesman Jay Carney said Washington was ready to provide its ally with "any assistance" needed.
One local official, who had taken a boat to the site an hour after the distress signal was sent, said he was "very concerned" about those still missing.
"The ship was already almost totally submerged when I got there. A lot of people must have been trapped," the official, who declined to be identified, told AFP by phone.
The cause of the accident in fine weather was not immediately clear, although rescued passengers reported the ferry coming to a sudden, shuddering halt -- indicating it may have run aground.
"I heard a big thumping sound and the boat suddenly started to tilt," one rescued student said.
Another spoke of luggage and vending machines crashing down on passengers as the vessel tipped over.
"Everyone was screaming and a lot of people were bleeding badly," he said.
Distraught parents gathered at the high school in Ansan, desperate for news, with some yelling at school officials while others repeatedly tried to call their children's mobiles.
"I'm so worried about my son," said one father, Lee Ki-Hong. "I texted him an hour before the ship sank, but there has been no reply," he told YTN.
Survivors were taken to a gymnasium on nearby Jindo island, where relatives of the missing, wrapped in blankets against the cold, were holding what looked set to be a night-long vigil on the quay of the main harbour.
Three giant floating cranes had been despatched to the site and would begin operations to raise the submerged vessel tomorrow, officials said.
Scores of ferries ply the waters between the South Korean mainland and its multiple offshore islands every day, and accidents are relatively rare.
In one of the worst incidents, nearly 300 people died when a ferry capsized off the west coast in October 1993.
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Earlier report: Hundreds missing after South Korean ferry sinks
SEOUL - South Korean rescue teams, including elite navy SEAL divers, raced Wednesday to find nearly 300 people missing after a ferry sank with 459 on board, mostly high school students bound for a holiday island.
Little of the stricken ferry is still above the water as search and rescue teams began work at the scene, some 20 kilometres off the island of Byungpoong Wednesday. (AFP photo from South Korean Coast Guard)
Lee Gyeong-Og, the vice minister of security and public administration, said 164 people had been rescued, leaving 292 "unaccounted for". His office said there were three confirmed deaths, including a female crew member and one student. There were fears that the final death toll will be high.
The 6,825-ton ship listed sharply, capsized and finally sank, all within two hours of sending a distress signal at 9am local time (0000 GMT).
"I'm afraid there's little chance for those trapped inside to still be alive," said one senior rescue team official, speaking by phone from the scene.
Dramatic television aerial footage showed terrified passengers wearing life jackets clambering into inflatable boats as water lapped over the rails of the vessel as it sank 20 kilometres off the southern island of Byungpoong.
Some could be seen sliding down the steeply inclined side of the ferry and into the water, as rescuers, including the crew of what appeared to be a small fishing boat, struggled to pull them to safety.
Several rescued passengers said they had initially been ordered to stay in their seats, before the ferry suddenly listed to one side, triggering panic.
"The crew kept telling us not to move and to stay seated," one male survivor told the YTN news channel.
"Then it suddenly shifted over and people slid to one side and it became very difficult to get out," he added.
Lee's ministry earlier announced that 368 people had been rescued -- a mistake it attributed to conflicting information from multiple sources.
Of the 429 passengers on board the ferry bound for the popular southern resort island of Jeju, more than 300 were students travelling with 14 teachers from a high school in Ansan just south of Seoul.
Among those confirmed as rescued, 78 were students.
"I feel so pained to see students on a school trip ... face such a tragic accident. I want you to pour all your energy into this mission," President Park Geun-Hye said on a visit to the main disaster agency situation room in Seoul.
Many of the survivors were plucked out of the water by fishing and other commercial vessels who were first on the scene before a flotilla of coastguard and navy ships arrived, backed by more than a dozen helicopters.
Lee said 178 divers, including a team of South Korean navy SEALS, were searching the submerged vessel.
"There is so much mud in the sea water and the visibility is very low," he said, adding that strong currents were also hampering the rescuers.
The US 7th Fleet said an amphibious assault ship, the USS Bonhomme Richard which was on routine patrol west of the Korean peninsula, was being sent to help.
The cause of the accident was not immediately clear, although rescued passengers reported the ferry coming to a sudden, shuddering halt -- indicating it may have run aground.
The weather was described as "fine" with moderate winds and sea swell.
One local official, who had taken a boat to the site and arrived an hour after the distress signal was sent, said he was "very concerned" about those still missing.
"The ship was already almost totally submerged when I got there. A lot of people must have been trapped," the official, who declined to be identified, told AFP by phone.
The water temperature was cold at around 12.6 degrees Celsius (55 Fahrenheit).
"I heard a big thumping sound and the boat suddenly started to tilt," one rescued student told YTN by telephone.
Another spoke of luggage and vending machines crashing down on passengers as the vessel tipped over.
"Everyone was screaming and a lot of people were bleeding badly," he said.
Distraught parents gathered at the high school in Ansan, desperate for news, with some yelling at school officials while others frantically tried to call their children's mobiles.
"I talked to my daughter. She said she had been rescued along with 10 other students," one mother told the YTN news channel.
"They said they had jumped into the water before getting rescued," she said.
Survivors wrapped in blankets were taken to a gymnasium on nearby Jindo island, where a number of tearful parents had already arrived.
Three giant floating cranes had been despatched to the site and would begin operations to raise the submerged vessel tomorrow, officials said.
Scores of ferries ply the waters between the South Korean mainland and its multiple offshore islands every day, and accidents are relatively rare.
In one of the worst incidents, nearly 300 people died when a ferry capsized off the west coast in October 1993.