Update 2: Death Toll in Korean Ferry Tragedy Rises to Nine

Yonhap
Nine out of 475 passengers, mostly high school students, aboard the 6,325-ton ferry Sewol have been confirmed dead so far, while 179 others have been rescued, reports Yonhap.
The fate of the remaining 287 passengers is feared to be sealed as they are assumed to be trapped inside the sunken ship.
At the moment there are 169 ships and 29 aircraft taking part in the search and rescue operations of what is believed to be one of South Koreas deadliest offshore accidents. Also some 555 Navy, Coast Guard and other divers have been mobilized for the operations, the officials said.
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, Korea’s minister for security and public administration, during a press briefing. We will do our best.
Two salvage cranes are also on their way to the scene to raise the sunken vessel, with one of them expected to arrive on Friday morning and the other in the evening, the minister added.
According to the Coast Guard officials, the 6,325-ton Sewol was carrying around 475 people, including 325 students from a high school in Ansan, just south of Seoul, when it sent out a distress signal at 8:58 a.m.  in waters 20 kilometers off the island of Byeongpoong.
The cause of the incident is still unknown, but according to the eyewitnesses the ferry hit something before she listed and quickly sank.
 

World Maritime News Staff, April 17, 2014