All 267 folks aboard a South Korean passenger ferry have been rescued after it ran aground on rocks off the nation’s south-east coast, based on the Coast Guard.
Officers mentioned the Queen Jenuvia 2 is caught on a reef and unable to maneuver, however there’s at present no threat of it sinking or capsizing.
The accident occurred close to Jangsan Island in Sinan County on Wednesday night native time. The vessel ran aground on rocks close to the uninhabited island of Jogdo.
Twenty-seven folks sustained minor accidents from the impression of the grounding, the Price Guard mentioned, however there have been no different casualties.
Some passengers described the incident in actual time on social media.
“There was a loud bang, after which the ship tilted,” one was quoted as saying by South Korea’s Yonhap information company.
“An announcement informed everybody to placed on life jackets, so we’re carrying them and ready on the highest deck.”
The 26,000-tonne ferry was travelling to the port metropolis of Mokpo after departing from the resort island of Jeju, officers mentioned.
The realm is close to the location of the sinking of the Sewol ferry in 2014 that killed greater than 300 folks, largely faculty youngsters heading for a college journey.
The salvaged wreck of the Sewol ferry was dropped at Mokpo practically three years later.
Kim Namhyun, a diving teacher on Jeju Island, informed Reuters: “I believed I would die. The sound was too loud.
“However having seen the Sewol ferry, I knew that in conditions like this, it’s important to keep calm, transfer outdoors, put on a life jacket, and wait.”
The Coast Guard plans to maneuver the vessel ashore at excessive tide.