Frantic South Korean passengers aboard a ferry, many of them high school students heading on an overnight trip to Jeju Island, reached for their mobile devices to send farewell messages to friends and loved ones as the ship carrying 462 passengers and crew began to sink.



At least six people travelling on the 6,825-ton Sewol ferry were confirmed dead and hundreds more were still missing on Wednesday as the coast guard continued rescue operations.


South Korean news outlets also began reporting about electronic communications sent to family and friends of victims of the deadly accident. CBC News translated some of those heartbreaking text messages.


Below is a text message exchange between a high school student aboard the Sewol ferry and his mother. The student is reported to have been rescued:


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(Kyunghyang Shinmun, CBC photo illustration, translation by Duk Han Lee)



This is a text message exchange between a passenger named Woong Gi and his brother. The passenger is currently reported missing:


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(Kyunghyang Shinmun, CBC photo illustration, translation by Duk Han Lee)



As the Sewol ship continued to sink, a high school student who was a passenger messaged 30 members of his theatre club in this text exchange obtained by South Korea's Yonhap News agency. The fate of the student is not yet known:


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(Yonhap News, CBC photo illustration, translation by Duk Han Lee)