Several people appear to have survived in an air pocket of a capsized South Korean ferry, the father of one of the school children aboard the boat told reporters accompanying families out to the scene of the disaster on Thursday, according to CNN.
About 290 people are still missing out of 450 passengers on the Sewol ferry, which capsized in still-mysterious circumstances off the Korean peninsula on Wednesday in what could be the country's worst maritime accident in 20 years, CNN reported. So far 179 people have been rescued and six confirmed dead.
Many of the passengers were school children from one high school on the outskirts of Seoul, according to CNN. "(The child) told me in the text message, 'I am alive, there are students alive, please save us quickly," the father said.
Coastguard and navy divers resumed searching on Thursday after the ferry capsized in sight of land on a trip from the port city of Incheon to the holiday island of Jeju, about 60 miles south of the peninsula, CNN reported.
Grieving family members gathered early on Thursday on the quay of the coastal city of Jindo, huddled in blankets against the spring cold as efforts to find the missing went into a second day, according to CNN.
It is not known why the 6,586 metric ton vessel, built in Japan 20 years ago, sank, CNN reported. Nautical charts of the wider area show reefs and shallow waters, although one government official appeared to discount the possibility the ship had hit a rock.
It was not immediately clear why the Sewol ferry had listed heavily onto its side in apparently calm waters off South Korea's southwest coast, but some survivors spoke of a loud noise prior to the disaster, according to CNN.
There were reports of the ferry having veered off course, but coordinates of the site of the accident provided by port authorities indicated it was not far off the regular shipping lane, CNN reported.
The ferry sent a distress signal early on Wednesday, the coastguard said, triggering a rescue operation that involved almost 100 coastguards, navy vessels and fishing boats, as well as 18 helicopters, according to CNN.
