Boats, helicopters trying to save 476 aboard sinking ferry

Seoul, South Korea • Dozens of military boats and helicopters scrambled Wednesday to rescue more than 470 people, including 325 high school students on a school trip, after a ferry sank off South Korea's southern coast, officials said. At least one person died and 14 were said to have been injured.

The ferry was sailing to the southern island of Jeju when it sent a distress call Wednesday morning after it began leaning to one side, according to Ministry of Security and Public Administration. The government said about 95 percent of the ship was submerged.

Two coast guard officers said that a 27-year-old woman named Park Ji-yeong died. One of the officers, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said 168 passengers had been rescued so far, but gave no further details, including what caused the ship to sink or the conditions of the other passengers.

A student, Lim Hyung-min, told broadcaster YTN from a nearby island that he jumped into the ocean wearing a life jacket with other students and swam to a nearby rescue boat.

"As the ship was shaking and tilting, we all tripped and bumped into each another," Lim said, adding that some people were bleeding. Once he jumped, the ocean "was so cold. ... I was hurrying, thinking that I wanted to live."

The students are from a high school in Ansan city near Seoul and were on their way to Jeju island for a four-day trip, according to a relief team set up by Gyeonggi Province, which governs the city. The ship left Incheon port, just west of Seoul, on Tuesday evening, according to the state-run Busan Regional Maritime Affairs & Port Administration.

At the high school, students were sent home and parents gathered for news about the ferry.

Park Ji-hee, a first-year student, said she saw about a dozen parents crying at the school entrance and many cars and taxies gathered at the gate as she left in the morning.

She said some students in her classroom began to cry as they saw the news on their handsets. Teachers tried to soothe them, saying that the students on the ship would be fine.

A total of 16 helicopters, 34 rescue vessels and Navy divers were sent to the area, Lee Gyeong-og, a vice minister for South Korea's Public Administration and Security Ministry, told a televised news conference.

He said President Park Geun-hye ordered a thorough rescue operation. He said 14 had been injured so far, including one described as serious and taken to hospitals.

Lee said that Navy special forces and an underwater demolition team would help rescue passengers who had jumped into the water as the ship sank.