Thursday 17 April 2014 16.15 Rescuers are hammering on the upturned hull of a capsized South Korean ferry hoping for a response from those trapped inside.
They believe 287 people, mostly teenage schoolchildren, are trapped after the vessel started sinking more than 24 hours ago.
Of the 475 passengers and crew on the vessel, nine are listed as dead and 179 have been rescued, according to the South Korean government.
Coastguard and navy divers are searching the waters at the site of the incident, about 12 miles off the country's southwestern coast.
The vessel capsized yesterday morning during a short journey from the port of Incheon to the holiday island of Jeju.
Grieving parents accused officials of being slow to react and for a lack of information.
The government said three cranes were being moved to the site of the accident and would arrive tomorrow, although efforts were continuing to establish whether there were any survivors on the stricken vessel.
Media reports said submersibles were pumping oxygen into the hull, although the coastguard declined to comment.
There is still no official explanation for the sinking. The ship, built in Japan 20 years ago, was following a well-travelled route.
Although the wider area has rock hazards and shallow waters, they were not in the immediate vicinity of its usual path.
State broadcaster YTN quoted investigation officials as saying the ship was off its usual course and had been hit by a veering wind, which caused containers stacked on deck to shift.
The vessel was listing heavily to one side yesterday as passengers wearing life jackets scrambled into the sea awaiting rescue boats.
It sank in roughly two hours and witnesses and local media showed that just one life raft from the ship successfully inflated and launched.
Witnesses told Korean media that the captain of the vessel, who is now being held by police, was one of the first to leave the stricken vessel.
Chonghaejin Marine Co Ltd, based in Incheon, issued a brief statement via local media apologising for the accident but has made no further comment.
As frustration grew, some parents of missing school children hired their own boat last night.
They appeared to blame the government of President Park Geun-hye and rescue officials for not making a big enough effort.
According to a coastguard official in Jindo, the waters where the ferry capsized have some of the strongest tides off South Korea's coast.
This prevented divers from entering the mostly submerged ship for several hours.
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