‘One Russian missing, two Filipinos rescued’

One Russian is still missing and two Filipinos were rescued from the ferry that sank near South Jeolla Province on Wednesday, the nation’s disaster control agency said on Thursday.

The two Filipinos, Cabras, 40, and Manio, 45, are singers reportedly hired by the ship operator Chonghaejin Marine Co., according to the emergency agency official.

The National Emergency Management Agency said the missing Russian was confirmed to be a student attending Danwon High School in Ansan, Gyeonggi Province.

“These three were initially verified as missing because they were not on the list of survivors,” another government official was quoted as saying.

The Russian national, Serkov Vyacheslav Nikolayevich, 16, was verified by the Russian Embassy in Seoul, according to a report by the Russian Foreign Ministry’s website.

China Daily raised the possibility of more foreigners being among the missing.

The Chinese Embassy reportedly confirmed Thursday that two Chinese nationals were on the Sewol ferry. But Korea’s Coast Guard said it had not identified any passengers from China after checking the personal information provided during ticket purchasing.

Local regulations allow car passengers to register only their license plate number instead of giving their personal information.

By Ha Ji-won, Intern reporter (jiwonha@heraldcorp.com)