Bad weather, murky water and strong currents are hampering the search for survivors of the South Korean ferry disaster. Emergency services are continuing to search for nearly 280 people missing after a ferry carrying more than 470 sank off South Korea.
Officials say 179 people have been rescued. Most of the
passengers on board were students and teachers from the same high school on a
field trip. Emergency teams used floodlights to search for survivors overnight
but divers were unable to enter the ship. At least eight people are confirmed
to have died, with dozens more injured.
The vessel was travelling from Incheon Port, in the
north-west, to the southern resort island of Jeju. South Korea's Yonhap news
agency said the eight dead include four 17-year-old students and a 25-year-old
teacher as well as a 22-year-old female crew member. Identities of the other
two were not immediately known.
The latest figures say 475 people were on board with 288
still unaccounted for.
It is not yet clear what caused the ship to list at a
severe angle and flip over, leaving only a small part of its hull visible above
water.
Rescue efforts are concentrated on the ship's wreckage,
which sank in about 30m (98ft) of water. Many passengers are thought to be
trapped inside.
