Two of the 476 passengers have been confirmed dead, while efforts are ongoing to ensure the safety of everyone else on board, including a group of over 300 high school students and their teachers.
According to a report in The Guardian, over 100 passengers have yet to be accounted for as rescue efforts increase following the sinking of a ferry approximately 100km off the coast of South Korea on Wednesday morning.
Over 30 coast guard and military ships, as well as a number of helicopters, are all contributing to the major rescue operation and while there are conflicting reports about the amount of passengers who have been rescued to date, it is believed that there are over 100 who have yet to be accounted for, with fears that they may have been trapped inside the vessel as it sank.
A report by major South Korean television network, YTN, confirming the safety of a party of more than 300 high school students and their teachers, was later withdrawn.
The car and passenger ferry, the 6,852-tonne Sewol, left Incheon on Tuesday evening bound for the holiday island of Jeju and a distress signal was sent out shortly before 9am local time this morning after it reportedly hit rocks in an area that had been shrouded in fog on Tuesday night, although visibility was believed to be fair this morning.
Rescue efforts are ongoing and we will update the story with further information when it emerges.
Pics via Getty
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