293 missing as South Korea ferry carrying students sinks

293 people, mostly students who were on a high school trip, are missing after a ferry capsized & sank in dense fog off South Korea's coast last night, local media reports.

A South Korean government spokesman told reporters this morning that there had been 459 people on board the ferry, including 325 students, 15 teachers, 89 other passengers and a crew of 30.

So far 164 people have been rescued, three confirmed dead, while hundreds are still unaccounted for. One rescued passenger told The Associated Press he believed that many people had been trapped inside the ship when it sank.

The ferry had been traveling to the southern tourist island of Jeju when it sank just three hours from it's destination. The distress call was made around 8p.m last night, 11 hours into the trip

Dozens of boats, helicopters, 30 navy and coast guard vessels and divers are around the area trying to find survivors. 

The ferry has a capacity of about 900 people and was built in Japan in 1994.