As South Korean ferry Sewol began to sink, some of those on board sent harrowing text messages to their loved ones.

With almost 300 people still unaccounted for one day after the accident, reports of desperate text messages from some of those trapped on board have surfaced in local media.

“This might be the last chance to say I love you,” one student named as Shin Young-jin is reported to have texted his mother.

“Why’s that,” his mother texted back, clearly unaware of the crisis engulfing the vessel.

“I love you anyway.”

According to the Korea Herald, Shin Young-jin was among the 179 people rescued from the ship so far.

But other parents who received such messages have not been reunited with their children. Another exchange between one student and her father was recounted by the AFP news agency and local media:

Student: “Dad, don’t worry. I’m wearing a life vest and am with other girls. We’re inside the ship, still in the hallway.”

Father: “I know that the rescue is under way, but shouldn’t you be waiting outside the rail? Try to get out if you can.”

Student: “The ship is too tilted. The hallway is crowded with so many people.”

The student who sent these messages remains unaccounted for.

As South Korean ferry Sewol began to sink, some of those on board sent harrowing text messages to their loved ones

In another text exchange widely published on South Korean media a student texted his older brother as the ship ran into trouble.

Student: “The ship ran into something and it’s not moving. They say the coast guard just arrived.”

Brother: “Don’t panic. Just do what you are told to do and then you will be fine.”

But there was no further communication after that.

Some parents were able to stay in touch with their children on the phone until lines were cut off. Park Yu-shin, whose daughter is among the missing, told the AFP news agency that she talked to her daughter as she was coping with the emergency.

“She was telling me: <<We’re putting on our life vests. They’re telling us to wait and stay put, so we’re waiting…I can see a helicopter>>,”Park Yu-shin said. Her daughter is still among the missing.

Reports that messages have been received from students still trapped inside the ferry have not been verified.

It is not yet clear what caused the ferry, carrying mainly school students, to sink, but survivors gave similar accounts of a catastrophic event at around 09:00. A picture of the fear and chaos on board has also been vividly drawn.

“There was a really loud noise and then the boat immediately began to shift to one side,” said rescued passenger, Kim Song-Muk.

“People were scrambling to get to the upper decks, but it was difficult with the deck slanted over.”

Student, Lim Hyung-min, told how he jumped into the ocean wearing a life jacket with other youngsters and then swam to a nearby rescue boat.

“As the ferry was shaking and tilting, we all tripped and bumped into each another,” Lim Hyung-min said, adding that some people were bleeding.

Once he jumped, the ocean “was so cold… I was hurrying, thinking that I wanted to live”.

Pictures from the scene showed rescue teams balanced on the sinking hull pulling teenagers from cabin windows as other jumped into the sea as the ship went down.

Other survivors have criticized the evacuation procedures.

Passenger Koo Bon-hee, 36, told the Associated Press news agency that many people were trapped inside by windows that were too hard to break. He wanted to escape earlier but an announcement said passengers should stay put.

“The rescue wasn’t done well. We were wearing life jackets. We had time,” Koo Bon-hee, who was on a business trip to Jeju with a co-worker, said from a hospital bed in Mokpo where he was treated for minor injuries.

“If people had jumped into the water … they could have been rescued. But we were told not to go out.”

Another survivor told local television: “The announcement told us that we should stay still, but the ship was already sinking and there were a lot of students who did not get out of the ship.”

Kim Seong-mok told YTN that he was “certain” many people were trapped inside the ship as water quickly filled up inside and the severe tilt of the ferry kept them from reaching the exits.

But tales of heroism on board as the vessel began to sink have also emerged.

One crew member, named as 22-year-old Park Ji-young, is said to have lost her life while struggling to make sure passengers on the upper floors of the ferry wore life jackets and found their way out.

“I repeatedly asked her why she did not first wear a life jacket. Park just said she would get out of the ship after making sure that all passengers were out,” a survivor told local media.

“Park pushed shocked passengers toward the exit even when the water was up to her chest.”

The Korea Herald reports that she joined the ferry company in 2012 to earn money to support her family.

When her body arrived at hospital, the paper reports, her mother cried: “I can’t believe you left us.”

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The search for survivors of the South Korean ferry disaster has been hampered by bad weather, murky water and strong currents.

Emergency services are still searching for about 280 people missing after a ship carrying 475 people sank.

Officials say 179 people have been rescued. Most of the passengers were pupils at the same high school.

South Korea’s president visited the wreck and urged rescuers to “hurry”.

President Park Geun-hye said that time was running out and that every minute and every second was critical.

Eighteen people are confirmed to have died, with dozens more injured.

The search for survivors of the South Korean ferry disaster has been hampered by bad weather, murky water and strong currents (photo Yonhap)

South Korea’s Yonhap news agency reported earlier that one Russian and two Chinese were among the missing.

Military divers have been fighting high winds and waves to try to access the vessel but were not able to get into any of the cabins, the Chief of the West Regional Headquarters of the South Korean Coastguard, Kim Soo-hyun, said.

At a press conference on Thursday, Kim Soo-hyun said reports that the ferry went off its course were being investigated.

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, but some experts have suggested the ship may have hit an underwater obstacle.

Passengers’ relatives are also questioning the role of the captain, who is being quizzed by police.

Captain Lee Joon-seok was shown apologizing on television.

“I am really sorry and deeply ashamed. I don’t know what to say,” he said.

It comes amid reports he was one of the first to escape the doomed ship.

Naval and coastguard vessels have been using floodlights and flares as darkness falls to maintain a search now involving more than 500 divers, 171 vessels and 29 aircraft.

Distraught relatives gathered in a gymnasium on nearby Jindo island insisted more should be done, and vented their grief and frustration to anyone who would listen.

The vessel – named Sewol – was travelling from Incheon port, in the north-west, to the southern resort island of Jeju.

Yonhap said the dead included 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 victims were not immediately known.

The latest figures say 475 people were on board and 278 are still missing. Figures issued by the government have changed several times, prompting criticism.

Search efforts have been concentrated on the ship, which sank in about 100ft of water.

“We carried out underwater searches five times from midnight until early in the morning, but strong currents and the murky water pose tremendous obstacles,” said Kang Byung-kyu, Minister for Security and Public Administration.

Meanwhile, the coastguard chief denied reports that three divers had been swept away and had to be rescued themselves.

Privately, some officials admit it is unlikely the remaining passengers will be found alive.

“Honestly, I think the chances of finding anyone alive are close to zero,” one coastguard official told an AFP journalist on a rescue boat.

The US Navy has sent an amphibious assault ship, the USS Bonhomme Richard, to assist with the search.

Cranes are expected to reach the scene on Saturday.

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South Korean emergency services are continuing to search overnight for almost 300 people missing after Sewol ferry carrying 462 people sank off Jindo Island.

According to officials, 174 people were rescued from the ship, which was travelling from Incheon Port, in the north-west, to the southern resort island of Jeju.

Emergency teams have been using floodlights and flares to search the vessel for passengers into the night.

At least six people are thought to have died, with dozens more injured.

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 30 metres of water. Many passengers are thought to be trapped inside.

South Korea’s PM Chung Hong-won, has warned there is not “a minute or a second to waste” in the search for survivors, urging those involved to do their utmost to save more lives.

South Korean emergency services are continuing to search overnight for almost 300 people missing after Sewol ferry carrying 462 people sank off Jindo Island (photo NBC News)

But officials say the rescue operation involving coast guard, military and commercial vessels has been hampered by poor visibility and strong currents.

“There is so much mud in the sea water and the visibility is very low,” said Lee Gyeong-og, vice-minister of security and public administration.

The US Navy has sent an amphibious assault ship, the USS Bonhomme Richard, to assist with the search.

Navy divers have managed to enter three compartments of the ship but have not yet found any bodies.

Relatives of the missing have gathered in the town of Jindo, near to where ferry capsized, awaiting news of their loved ones.

Many of the passengers on board the ship were school students and teachers from the same school near the capital, Seoul, heading on a field trip to Jeju island.

South Korean President Park Geun-hye has expressed sadness over the incident, saying it was “truly tragic” that students on a field trip were involved in “such an unfortunate accident”.

Kim Young-boong, an official from the company which owns the ferry, has apologized.

“I would like to say sorry to the passengers, which include a number of students and their parents, and promise that our company will do its best to minimise loss of life. We are sorry,” he said, according to the AP news agency.

“We will try to determine the cause of the accident after rescue operations are over,” Lee Gyeong-og said.

MV Sewol:

Passengers on board: 459

Maximum capacity: 900

Length: 146 metres

Built: 1994

Source: Reuters

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