Heartbreaking text message exchanges between students
trapped in the sinking ferry off the coast of South Korea and their anxious
parents are offering a glimpse into the desperate situation in the crippled
vessel.
"Dad, don't worry. I've got a life vest on and we're
huddled together," one 18-year-old student, identified only by her last
name, Shin, texted her father, according to MBC News, a Korean news station.
The father replied: "I know the rescue is underway but
make your way out if you can."
"Dad, I can't walk out," she replied. "The
corridor is full of kids, and it's too tilted."
The student was among the 287 still reported missing.
In another exchange, a male student texted his mother, who
was unaware at the time that the ferry was in distress.
"Mom, I might not be able to tell you in person. I love
you," the student texted, according to MBC.
"Me too, son. I love you," the mother texted back,
followed with three heart symbols.
Fortunately, that student was among the 179 people who have
been rescued, MBC reported.
And one family said they had received a text message saying
“I am alive” from one of the missing people while still on board, Korean news
agency NEWSIS reported. It was unclear if that person had been rescued.
Survivors told harrowing tales of confusion and desperation
as people slid along the floor of the sharply listing ship, colliding with one
another, or found themselves trapped in cabins by a wall of water.
"When we were making our way out, the wall was almost
all water, and it was completely submerged up to the third floor,"
survivor In-Hwan Kang, 58, told MBC.
So-Hyun Kim, a teacher accompanying the more than 300
students from Danwon High School in Ansan, said she initially stayed in her
cabin because of the announcements, but had to attempt an escape when water
came rushing in.
"I couldn't go anywhere. I didn't have the strength to
climb further up," she told SBS News. "There was an open emergency
exit, so another teacher and I decided to just fall and swim our way toward it.
I fell and hit a railing, and that's when I was rescued."
Of the 475 passengers on board the ferry, 179 were rescued.
Another 287 were listed as missing and 9 died.
Rescuers were seen boarding the vessel, which had tipped to
its side, and combing through the top of the ship for survivors. One man
boarded the boat and quickly found what appeared to be a crew member still on
it.
Source: Yahoo.News
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