(Image source from: South Korea Ferry sinks Hundreds missing})

South Korea said almost 300 people were missing after a passenger ferry sank in the early hours of Wednesday near the country's southwest coast. The initial reports say that only two people were found dead and rescue operations are in progress which are being monitored by the South Korean Ministry of Security and Public Administration.

Reports also say that the Ferry was carrying 477 passengers and South Korean authorities could not say comment anything on the cause of mishap. Of the 477 passengers, 325 were students who are on their way to for a four-day trip to the resort island of Jeju.

The latest footage of the disaster showed coast guard helicopters pulling passengers off the badly tilting 6,825 ton mammoth ship.