A South Korean ferry Sewol has sunk off the coast of Incheon, just west of Seoul. At least two people are dead, hundreds of others are unaccounted for. The Sewol ferry was carrying mostly students that were on a four-day trip to the resort island of Jeju.
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| Korean ferry Sewol sinks – two dead, hundreds missing |
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The ferry, Sewol, was carrying 447 passengers and 27 crew members — among them, about 320 students.
The group left from the port city of Incheon, just west of Seoul, for a four-day trip to the resort island of Jeju.
Around 9 a.m. local time, the ferry sent out its first distress call. It had begun to list.
A rescued student, Lim Hyung Min, told CNN affiliate YTN that he heard a loud bump. The ferry began to sink after that. 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.”