South Korea ferry sinking: 'I am sorry,' captain says as 287 still missing

Jindo, South Korea (CNN) -- There were 46 lifeboats attached to the South Korean ferry that sank in frigid waters -- but only one lifeboat was deployed, CNN affiliate YTN reported Thursday.

CNN has not been able to independently confirm the report. But if true, it will fuel the anger of families still waiting to hear the fate of 287 passengers still missing at sea.

Video acquired by affiliate JTBC showed at least 12 of the white survival capsules still attached to the ferry, even as it was keeled over in the water. The survival capsules hold the lifeboats.

More than 24 hours have passed since the 6,800-ton ferry sank Wednesday morning.

Rescue crews continue search for missing

 

Jindo, South Korea (CNN) -- There were 46 lifeboats attached to the South Korean ferry that sank in frigid waters -- but only one lifeboat was deployed, CNN affiliate YTN reported Thursday.

CNN has not been able to independently confirm the report. But if true, it will fuel the anger of families still waiting to hear the fate of 287 passengers still missing at sea.

Video acquired by affiliate JTBC showed at least 12 of the white survival capsules still attached to the ferry, even as it was keeled over in the water. The survival capsules hold the lifeboats.

More than 24 hours have passed since the 6,800-ton ferry sank Wednesday morning.

Rescue crews continue search for missing

'I think we are all going to die'

Did human error sink the South Korean ferry?

Jindo, South Korea (CNN) -- There were 46 lifeboats attached to the South Korean ferry that sank in frigid waters -- but only one lifeboat was deployed, CNN affiliate YTN reported Thursday.

CNN has not been able to independently confirm the report. But if true, it will fuel the anger of families still waiting to hear the fate of 287 passengers still missing at sea.

Video acquired by affiliate JTBC showed at least 12 of the white survival capsules still attached to the ferry, even as it was keeled over in the water. The survival capsules hold the lifeboats.

More than 24 hours have passed since the 6,800-ton ferry sank Wednesday morning.

Rescue crews continue search for missing

'I think we are all going to die'

Did human error sink the South Korean ferry?

  Photos: South Korean ship sinks

Nine people are dead. At least 179 have been rescued.

But no one knows whether the missing 287 are alive, perhaps on the ship, or if they succumbed to the water about 10 degrees Celsius (50 degrees Fahrenheit.)

The captain of the ferry broke down in tears when asked if he had anything to say to the missing passengers' families.

"I am sorry, I am at a loss for words," captain Lee Joon Suk said. He sat at a coast guard station with his head and face covered, facing possible charges of negligence and accidental homicide.

How did this happen?

No one knows exactly why the ship sank.

Some analysts said the five-story ferry might have veered off course -- speculation that South Korean Oceans and Fisheries Ministry quashed Thursday.

The agency had approved the ferry's intended route, and "there was no huge difference between their plan and the actual track chart," spokesman Nam Jae Heon said.

At one point or another, the massive rescue efforts has included 169 boats, 29 planes and 512 divers. Crews were trying to move a crane to stabilize the ship.

But relentless rain, whipping winds and thick fog stymied rescue efforts Thursday. Three of the 22 volunteer divers who joined the search went missing in high tide but were later found, YTN said.

South Korean President Park Guen-hye visited families at the scene and pushed rescue workers to press on.