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Agence France-Presse in Seoul

Heart-wrenching messages of fear, love and despair, sent by high school students from a sinking South Korean ferry, have added extra emotional weight to a tragedy that has stunned the nation.
Nearly 300 people - most of them students and teachers from Danwon high school in Ansan, near Seoul - are still missing after the ferry capsized and sank on Wednesday morning.

"Sending this in case I may not be able to say this again. Mom, I love you," student Shin Young-jin said in a text to his mother that was widely circulated in the South Korean media.
"Oh, I love you too son," texted back his mother - unaware at the time that her boy was caught in a life-and-death struggle to escape the rapidly sinking vessel.
Unlike many others, the exchange had a happy ending; Shin was one of 179 survivors rescued before the ferry capsized and went under the water.
Others were not so fortunate.

Another student, 16-year-old Kim Woong-ki, sent a desperate text for help to his elder brother as the ship listed violently over to one side.
"My room is tilting about 45 degrees. My mobile is not working very well," Kim messaged.
Seeking to reassure him, his brother said he was sure help was on the way.
"So don't panic and just do whatever you're told to do. Then you'll be fine," he messaged back.

There was no further communication and Kim was listed among the 287 people on board still unaccounted for.
Sadly his brother's advice was similar to that of the crew, who controversially ordered passengers to stay put when the ship first foundered.
Angry relatives said this resulted in the passengers getting trapped when the ferry keeled over, cutting off their routes of escape.
That grim scenario was encapsulated in the texts of an 18-year-old student, identified in the local media by her surname Shin.
"Dad, don't worry. I'm wearing a life vest and am with other girls. We're inside the ship, still in the hallway," the girl messaged to her father.
Her distraught father wrote back urging her to try and get out, but it was already too late.
"Dad, I can't. The ship is too tilted. The hallway is crowded with so many people," she responded in a final message.
Some parents managed a last, traumatic phone call with their children as they tried to escape.
"He told me the ship was tilted over and he couldn't see anything," one mother recalled of a panicked conversation with her student son.
"He said 'I haven't put on the life jacket yet', and then the phone went dead," the mother told the Dong-A Ilbo.
The JoongAng Ilbo published excerpts from a chat room conversation between several students on the ferry.
"Hey guys, let's make sure we meet up alive," messaged one.
"I love you all," responded another.
It was not clear if the students were among those rescued.
At a gymnasium at a sports complex on Jindo island, a land point near the site of the sinking, hundreds of parents waited for news about their children. Many sat on the wooden floor, wrapped in blankets, or lay on stretchers. Some were attended to by medical personnel; ramen noodles and coffee were served on tables outside in the hallway. Just outside the entrance, a television had been installed to broadcast news of the rescue effort.
Amid their grief and anxiety, there was also a growing sense of anger and frustration at the heavy media presence which many found intrusive, and a reflexive anger with just about any official who turned up.
When Prime Minister Chung Hong-won visited the gymnasium early yesterday, his jacket was pulled and water as well as water bottles were thrown at him.
"How dare you come here with your chin up?" one relative screamed at him. "Would you respond like this if your own child was in that ship?"
One mother blocked Chung's path as he tried to leave, saying: "Don't run away, Mr Prime Minister. Please tell us what you're planning to do."
Additional reporting by Bloomberg


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South Korea ferry disaster

Students send messages of fear, love and despair as Korean ferry sank

Students at Danwon High School hold letters for students of the school who are among the missing passengers of a South Korean capsized ferry in Ansan. Photo: AFP

Family members of children are still missing in the sunken ferry the Sewol gather at a gymnasium in Jindo. Photo: AP

Family members of missing passengers wait for news at a gym in Jindo. Photo: Reuters

Vessels involved in salvage operations are seen near the upturned South Korean Sewol ferry in the sea off Jindo. Photo: Reuters

Relatives of passengers aboard a sunken ferry weep at a port in Jindo, south of Seoul. Photo: AP

Wind and waves hamper search for hundreds trapped in South Korea sunken ferry

Civilian divers jump into the sea to search for missing passengers in the sinking of the ferry Sewol. Photo: EPA

South Korean Coast Guard officers try to rescue missing passengers from a sunken ferry in the water off the southern coast near Jindo, while relatives of a passenger aboard a sunken ferry weep as they wait for the news on the rescue operation. Photos: AP

South Korean Coast Guard officers try to rescue missing passengers from a sunken ferry in the water off the southern coast near Jindo. Photo: AP

Relatives of a passenger aboard a sunken ferry weep as they wait for the news on the rescue operation. Photo: AP

At least six people were killed, with the fate of 290 others unknown, in the sinking of a South Korean ferry off the country's southwestern coast. Photo: EPA

Maritime police search for missing passengers near the South Korean ferry which sank at the sea off Jindo. Photo: Reuters

Rescue crews at the site of the capsized passenger ferry. Photo: EPA

South Korean coastguard helicopters attempt to airlift passengers and crew stranded on the stricken ferry. Photo: AP

The listing ship is circled by two helicopters as rescuers pluck passengers from the water. Photo: AP

Part of South Korean passenger ship "Sewol" that has been sinking is seen as South Korean maritime policemen search for passengers in the sea off Jindo. Photo: Reuters

Coastguard members search for passengers near a South Korean ferry. Photo: AFP

A relative of a passenger aboard a sunken ferry weeps at a port in Jindo. Photo: AP

Parents and relatives check the rescued passengers lists at a gymnasium in Jindo. Photo: AP

A passenger from the ferry Sewon is hoisted onto a coastguard helicopter off the southern Korean coast near Jindo. Photo: AP

Survivors are wrapped in blankets after they are brought back to land in Jindo. Photo: AFP

South Korean ferry "Sewol" is seen sinking in the sea off Jindo. Photo: Reuters

The mother of a passenger who was on a sinking ferry reacts after finding her son's name in the survivors list in Jindo. Photo: Reuters

Helicopters fly over the stricken South Korean passenger ship, trying to rescue passengers off the southern coast of the country. Photo: AP

The stricken ship lies on its side as a helicopter and boat aid in the rescue operation. Photo: AP 

South Korean rescuers give a man first aid after the ship sinks. Photo: Reuters

An injured passenger rescued by South Korean maritime policemen from a sinking ship in the sea off Jindo, is treated. Photo: Reuters

Rescued passengers from a ferry sinking off South Korea's southern coast, are escorted by rescue teams on their arrival at a port. Photo: AP

A family member of a missing passenger who was on the South Korean ferry which sank at sea cries as she waits for news from a rescue team at a gym in Jindo. Photo: Reuters

Members of South Korean Ship Salvage Unit search for passengers. Photo: Reuters

South Korea's President Park Geun-Hye (centre) visits relatives of missing passengers on board a capsized ferry as they wait for news in Jindo. Photo: AFP

'The ship went boom': Survivors speak of chaos as South Korea ferry started to sink

A mother reacts to learning her son's name is on a survivors' list. Photo: Reuters

Rescued passengers bundle in blankets. Photo: AFP

One passenger awaits help. Photo: Reuters

News

Asia

As Korean ferry sank, schoolchildren aboard sent desperate phone messages to their loved ones, who vent their anger as rescue hopes dim


Heart-wrenching messages of fear, love and despair, sent by high school students from a sinking South Korean ferry, have added extra emotional weight to a tragedy that has stunned the nation.
