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A relative of a missing passenger from the sunken ferry Sewol. Photograph: Lee Jin-man/AP Photograph: Lee Jin-man/AP
A relative of a missing passenger from the sunken ferry Sewol. Photograph: Lee Jin-man/AP Photograph: Lee Jin-man/AP

South Korean ferry: school vice principal found dead

This article is more than 9 years old

Police say teacher was one of those rescued from sinking ferry thought to have claimed hundreds of lives

South Korean police say a high school vice principal who had been rescued from a sinking South Korean ferry has been found dead.

The news came as rescuers scrambled to find hundreds of people still missing from the ferry and feared dead. The passengers included 325 second-year students from Danwon High School heading to a southern island on a four-day trip.

A police officer says the vice principal, identified only by his surname, Kang, was found dead on the island of Jindo where rescued passengers have taken shelter. The officer spoke on condition of anonymity citing department rules. He did not elaborate.

Officials have confirmed 28 deaths since the ferry sank on Wednesday, but that number is expected to rise sharply. About 270 people are missing.

It has emerged that the captain of the ferry was not at the helm of the vessel when it capsized, as hopes dimmed for finding more survivors.

Officials said a junior officer steering the ship when the accident occurred, adding that Lee Joon-seok, who has been criticised for apparently jumping into a rescue boat while hundreds of his passengers remained aboard, may have been in another part of the vessel.

"He [the captain] may have been off the bridge,“ Park Jae-eok, an investigating official, told reporters in Mokpo, a city near the port from where the rescue operation is being directed. “And the person at the helm at the time was the third officer.”

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