Three confirmed dead after South Korean ferry sinks

A ferry carrying 459 people, mostly high school students, has sunk off South Korea, leaving at least three people dead and nearly 300 missing.

The high number of people unaccounted for – likely to be trapped in the ship or floating in the ocean – raised fears that the death toll could rise drastically, making it one of South Korea’s biggest ferry disasters since 1993 when 292 people died.