(MENAFN- Qatar News Agency) oul April 16 - A passenger ship carrying more than 470 people mostly high school students sank off South Korea's southern coast on Wednesday leaving at least two people dead and 13 others injured amid fears the toll could be much higher. A total of 368 people have been confirmed rescued but the death toll could rise sharply as nearly one hundred passengers remain unaccounted for amid fears that they could be trapped inside the sunken vessel according to (Yonhap) news agency. The 6325-ton Sewol was carrying 477 people including 325 students on a school trip when it sent out a distress signal in waters 20 kilometers off the island of Byeongpoong said the Coast Guard and a government official. The accident prompted a massive rescue operation involving Coast Guard and military vessels and helicopters but one person was found dead. The Coast Guard said that it has recovered the body of a 27-year-old female crew member. Officials said another died after being rescued but no further details were available. The ship completely capsized in about two hours the Coast Guard said adding that most of the students had been rescued from the capsized ferry without giving further information. The cause of the accident and the condition of those rescued were not immediately known. "There was a banging noise then the boat suddenly started sinking" a rescued passenger was quoted by the Coast Guard as saying. The ferry set off from the western port of Incheon on Tuesday evening and was to arrive at the southern resort island of Jeju later on Wednesday Lee Jae-youl a Ministry of Security and Public Administration official said at a press briefing. The students are from a high school in Ansan about 40 kilometers south of Seoul and they were on their way to Jeju a popular tourist destination for a four-day trip Lee added. The Navy dispatched 22 vessels and a Lynx helicopter for rescue and search operation while preparing to send Navy special forces and an underwater demolition team to rescue passengers who jumped into the water wearing life jackets after the captain told them to abandon the ship. The Air Force dispatched a C-130 military transport aircraft carrying life boats while the Army sent about 10 helicopters and the emergency rescue teams military officials said. President Park Geun-hye ordered maximum efforts to rescue all of the passengers stressing that all available Navy Coast Guard and other vessels nearby should be mobilized to make sure that not a single life is lost
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