4 Chinese now confirmed aboard ship
Two more Chinese nationals were confirmed Friday as being aboard the capsized South Korean ferry, bringing the total number of Chinese missing in the tragedy to four.
According to the Chinese embassy in Seoul, a Chinese citizen working in South Korea on an H2 visa and a Chinese schoolgirl were on the ferry that sank Wednesday off South Korea's southwest coast.
In addition, a 39-year-old man and a 38-year-old woman, both from China's Jilin province, were confirmed as being passengers on the ship. They had worked in South Korea for years, Chinese media reported.
The possibility of more Chinese being aboard the ferry cannot be ruled out.
The ferry was reportedly carrying 475 people, including 325 students and 15 teachers from Danwon High School in Ansan, a Seoul suburb with a large Chinese population.
Chinese diplomats have urged South Korea to check the passenger list and make all-out search and rescue efforts, the Foreign Ministry said on Friday.
They also have urged South Korea to discover the whereabouts of the Chinese passengers as soon as possible and provide timely information to China, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said at a news conference.
Diplomats have been sent to console the families of the missing Chinese, Hua added.
- Zhao Shengnan
(China Daily 04/19/2014 page7)
