World News – A rescue mission was underway after a South Korean passenger ship carrying about 470 people sent a distress call off the southern coast, and local media reports said the ferry was listing badly and on the verge of sinking.
A South Korean passenger ship lists off Jindo, South Korea, on April 16, 2014. A passenger ferry carrying about 470 people was listing badly off South Korea’s southwest coast and had sent a distress signal, a Korean coast guard official said on Wednesday, and a rescue mission was underway.
South Korean news channel YTN said about 190 people have been rescued. Eyewitnesses said the ferry was sinking.
The Busan Regional Maritime Affairs & Port Administration said in a statement that the ferry was sailing to the southern island of Jeju when it sent a distress call Wednesday morning local time, Reuters reported.
“The ship is taking in water and sinking,” a South Korean coast guard spokesman told the AFP news agency by phone.
There were not immediate reports of fatalities.
Julie Yoo of NBC News and Reuters contributed to this report.
