Schoolboy made first distress call from South Korean ferry it emerges, as Chinese bodies found

The first distress call from a sinking South Korean ferry was made by a boy with a shaking voice to a fire station, three minutes after the vessel made its fateful last turn.

That call was forwarded to the coastguard two minutes later and was followed by about 20 others by phone from children to the fire brigade, a fire station officer said.

Xinhua reported that the bodies of two missing Chinese passengers and another foreign citizen aboard the ferry were recovered by rescuers on Monday.

Two of the victims were identified as Chinese men according to their identification cards while another male victim’s nationality remained unknown.

One of the Chinese victims was found in waters where the ferry sank, while the other was recovered inside the ship, according to South Korea’s Coast Guard.

Another male foreign victim was found inside the ship, and was described by the coast guard as a foreign student.