Aerial footage shows terrified passengers wearing life jackets being pulled to safety as water laps over the rails of the sinking ferry
Hundreds are missing after a ferry capsized off South Korea with 477 people on board - mostly high school students bound for a holiday island.
Officials voiced concern over the fate of over 300 people unaccounted for, fearing that many may have been trapped as the vessel listed sharply and capsized within two hours of sending a distress signal at 9:00am (0000 GMT).
Dramatic aerial footage shows terrified passengers wearing life jackets being pulled to safety as water laps over the rails of the sinking ferry.
Of the 448 passengers on board the ferry which had been bound for the popular southern resort island of Jeju, 324 were students travelling with 14 teachers from a high school in Ansan, just south of Seoul.
The South Koren government said two people had been confirmed dead, including one male student and one female crew member.
Many appeared to have been rescued by fishing and other commercial vessels who were first on the scene before a flotilla of coastguard and navy ships arrived, backed by helicopters.
Divers, including a team of South Korean navy SEALS, are continuing to search the submerged vessel.
The 6,825-tonne ferry, which had sailed out of the western port of Incheon on Tuesday evening, ran into trouble some 20 kilometres (13 miles) off the southern island of Byungpoong.
The cause of the accident was not immediately clear, although rescued passengers reported the ferry coming to a sudden, shuddering halt - indicating it may have run aground.
Source: APTN and Reuters
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