The South Korean coast guard has released raw video showing the dramatic search and rescue efforts at the scene of the sunken passenger ferry.
The videos, which are posted to the YouTube channels of euronews, Storyful and the Associated Press, show members of the Republic of Korea Coast Guard arriving at the listing ship on boats and in helicopters, reaching survivors and pulling them to safety.
Four people are confirmed dead and hundreds are missing after the ferry, called Sewol, capsized near Jeju island off the southern coast of South Korea. The number of causalities is expected to rise; nearly 500 people were on board the ferry when it sunk shortly before 12 p.m. local time, including 300 high school students who were on a trip to a local island.
A team of navy divers were searching this ship's hull for survivors on Wednesday, as family members desperately waited for word of the missing.
Witnesses report hearing a loud noise before the ferry suddenly listed, sending students, teachers, and passengers diving into the 50-degree water.
“There was an announcement telling us to sit still, but the ferry was already sinking. Some of the students were not able to escape," one witness told the BBC. Another survivor told local television that students had jumped into the freezing ocean wearing life jackets before swimming to a nearby rescue boat. "As the ferry was shaking and tilting, we all tripped and bumped into each another," he said. The ocean "was so cold ... I was hurrying, thinking that I wanted to live."
[nggallery id=15981]