(MENAFN- Qatar News Agency) ndo South Korea April 17 - Search operations resumed in full scale Thursday for hundreds of passengers missing after their ferry sank off South Korea's southern coast on Wednesday in what is believed to be one of south Korea's deadliest offshore accidents. Nine out of 475 passengers mostly high school students aboard the 6325-ton ferry Sewol have been confirmed dead so far while 179 others have been rescued. But the fate of the remaining 287 remains unknown amid growing fears they are trapped inside the sunken ship. Combing the submerged ship is the top priority in the search though diving operations have been hampered by poor underwater visibility and strong currents at the scene. A total of 555 Navy Coast Guard and other divers have been mobilized for the operations (Yonhap) news agency quoted officials as saying. The water is very murky as currents stir up mud lying at the bottom of the sea 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 minister for security and public administration during a press briefing. "We will do our best." Also mobilized to scour the area are 169 boats and 29 aircraft Kang said. 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 said. The ferry was on its way to the southern resort island of Jeju after from the port of Incheon west of Seoul when it sent a distress signal on Wednesday. The circumstance leading to calling for help was not yet known though survivors said they heard a bang before the vessel started tilting over. Experts say the vessel could have hit an underwater rock. The Coast Guard has been questioning the ship's captain and other crew members to determine what went wrong. Coast Guard officials said they found that the ill-fated ship deviated from a government-recommended route. The ship also made a sharp turn in direction although it is supposed to make a gradual turn Coast Guard officials said. The loud bang before the sinking could be from cargo shifting from the turn experts said. A total of 325 passengers were students from a high school in Ansan just south of Seoul. They were on a school trip to Jeju and about 200 of the students remain unaccounted for. The government has come under strong fire over its handling of the disaster. It has even been unable to figure out exactly how many people were aboard the ship and it revised the figure as well as the numbers of those rescued and missing many times.
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