Kids in Video of Sinking Ferry: 'Looks Like the End'

Cellphone video captures laughter, panic aboard doomed ship
By Arden Dier,  Newser Staff
Posted May 1, 2014 7:23 AM CDT
Updated May 1, 2014 7:52 AM CDT

A cellphone video taken aboard South Korea's doomed ferry depicts "by far the most heartbreaking scene I have seen in my 27-year broadcasting career," a veteran TV producer says, per the New York Times. In the video, beginning three minutes before the ferry sent its first distress signal, a voice over the ferry's intercom can be heard repeatedly telling passengers to stay put. "Nonsense," says one student. "I want to get off. I mean it." Another shouts, "Hurry! Save us!", while yet another makes light of the situation: "This is going to be a lot of fun if we get it onto our Facebook." As the 15-minute video continues, however, reality sets in. "This looks like the end," a boy yells into the phone. Another adds, "Mom, Dad, I love you."

The video—which also shows a student giving up his life jacket for a classmate—was captured by Park Su-hyeon, 17, who died on board, and was only discovered when his phone was returned to his family. His father says it could help shed light on what went wrong. But it's not the only footage taken that fateful day: A second video shot 20 minutes after Su-hyeon's ended shows students cheering as they hear the first helicopters overheard. "Save us, save us," one says. But like Su-hyeon, that student also died as Coast Guard rescuers tended to the ship's captain and other crew members—nearly all of whom are now in custody. The latest numbers stand at 213 dead, with 89 still missing, Xinhua reports. (More South Korea stories.)

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