Cargo Business Newswire

Thursday, April 17, 2014

280+ people missing after South Korean ferry accident

The 6,825-ton ferry Sewol was sailing from Incheon to Jeju, which is roughly 60 miles off the south coast of South Korea, when it sent a distress signal Wednesday morning and sank soon thereafter.

Even though a rescue operation was immediately launched, more than 280 people, most of them students, remained missing Wednesday night, as coast guard and navy divers searched for survivors.

Rescued passengers told media that they believed many people were trapped below deck. The ship listed and sank quickly after people on board heard a loud noise.

The ship, built in Japan in 1994 and operated by Cheonghaejin Marine, had a 920-passenger capacity.

For more of The New York Times story: nytimes.com