South Korean Rescuers Hunt for Ferry Survivors
TEHRAN (Tasnim) - Relatives of hundreds of people missing in a ferry sinking in South Korea are demanding answers about their loved-ones, as rescuers continued to scour the wreckage for signs of life.
Authorities on Thursday confirmed nine people had died and 288 passengers still missing, a day after the Sewol ferry flipped on its side off the southern coast of South Korea. The ferry was carrying a total of 475 people when it sank.
Grieving family members gathered on the quay of the coastal city of Jindo, as efforts to locate the missing went into a second day. Many jostled with officials demanding for information about their loved-ones.
One parent, Park Yung-suk, told Reuters that she had seen the body of her teenage daughter's teacher brought ashore earlier in the morning.
"There are parents here who believe there are children who are alive on the boat," Fawcett said. "People here are really clinging onto that hope."
"If I could teach myself to dive, I would jump in the water and try to find my daughter," Park said.
The father of one of the missing passengers meanwhile said he received a text message from his child, saying that there were still survivors in the boat. The child said, "I am alive, there are students alive, please save us quickly".
However, Al Jazeera's Harry Fawcett, reporting from Jindo, said "It is not clear what the time lines of those text messages are."
The ferry, carrying mostly high school students on an overnight trip to the tourist island of Jeju, sank on Wednesday, leaving nearly 300 people missing.
The ferry sent a distress call at about 9am on Wednesday, the Ministry of Security and Public Administration said.
