Heart-breaking text messages allegedly sent by missing students aboard a sunken ferry to family members made international headlines on Wednesday. Turns out, they were fake, according to Korea's Cyber Terror Response Center, South Korean media report.
At least 28 people are dead and 268 are missing from the sunken South Kerry ferry, which was carrying 475 people, USA Today reported.
On Wednesday, the ferry sank off South Korea's southwest coast with more than 300 high school students among the passengers, ABC News reported.
Some of the purported conversations between the panicked students and their families were released by South Korean news outlets.
While some texts revealed the trapped students to be begging for help, others offered parting words to loved ones, according to USA Today.
ABC News, citing Korean TV, reported, "Dad, don't worry. I've got a life vest on and we're huddled together," a student identified as Shin, 18, texted her father.
Dad replied, "I know the rescue is underway but make your way out if you can."
"Dad, I can't walk out," she replied. "The corridor is full of kids, and it's too tilted."
The reports from ABC were also cited by USA TODAY and other news outlets.
However, Korea's Cyber Terror Response Center at the National Police agency said that none of the alleged text messages or calls were ever made. The Yonhap News Agency and The Korea Herald quoted that the agency has analyzed cell phone use logs of the 271 missing and came to this conclusion.
On the day of the accident, they found out that none of the phones had been used since noon, the Herald reported.
"We've checked over 300 phones, since some people owned more than one phone," police said, according to the newspaper.
A fifth grader in Gimpo, Gyeonggi Province was responsible for sending one of the fake messages from his phone, the Herald reported.
"The CTRC said it has asked regional police offices to try to determine who composed the messages, the Yonhap News agency reports," USA Today reported.
"Police said those responsible face criminal charges, including defamation and obstruction of justice. Officials said the purported hoax hurts the families of those missing and causes confusion for search teams."
