Story highlights
Early reports said all the students on board were rescued
In reality, many of them remain missing, presumably still on the sunken ship
Some families' hopes were raised by messages allegedly sent from survivors
But police said such messages were hoaxes and vowed to go after those responsible
First they said all passengers from the sunken South Korean ferry were rescued. Then they backtracked.
Next they said the ship didn’t deviate from its intended course. Then they said it did.
In this tragedy, officials can’t seem to get their stories straight. And the media isn’t helping by reporting the mixed messages.
With at least 28 people dead and hundreds still missing from the unexplained disaster, here’s how the misinformation has only fueled frustrations:
The rescue of the students
Soon after the ferry began to sink Wednesday, some local media reported that all students aboard the ship have been saved. Of the 475 people on board, more than 300 were high school students headed to a field trip on the island of Jeju.
The South Korean coast guard initially told CNN in that 368 people had been rescued, and two people were found dead.
But the reality turned out to be far more dire. As of Friday morning, only 179 people had been rescued, YTN and CNN affiliate JTBC said. At least 28 people were dead, and about 270 remained missing.
The ship veering off course
In the hours after the sinking, several analysts speculated the ferry may have veered off course and struck an object.
But the South Korean Oceans and Fisheries Ministry said Thursday that it had approved the boat’s intended route, and the actual course did not deviate significantly.
Yet later, Kim Soo Hyeon, the chief of South Korea’s Yellow Sea Maritime Police Agency said it appears the ship did deviate from its planned route but did not appear it hit a rock.
The text messages from passengers
Hopes soared for some family members after word spread about social media messages allegedly posted from survivors.
Messages such as “I am still alive… in the cafeteria please help me my battery is running out please believe me,” and “My phone is not working I am inside the boat I can’t see anything” spread on social media on Thursday – as late as over 24 hours after the incident.
News and rumors of texts circulated around families of the missing. The purported texts contained so much detail, they made relatives “surprised and excited,” one mother said earlier this week.
But in a cruel twist, police said such messages were actually hoaxes.
This one, however, was not the fault of officials. The messages were reported by local media outlets.
“An investigation from the Police Cyber Terror Response Center verified that all texts in question (from passengers still within the ship) are fake,” South Korea police posted on its official Twitter account.
“We will investigate people sending out these messages,” said Lee Sung Yoon, head of the combined police and prosecution team.
He said authorities will go after those behind the hoaxes and will “punish them severely.”
READ: How likely is it there are still survivors?
READ: Fake survivor posts add to nation’s anguish
READ: Seaborne cranes called in as relatives fear end to ferry rescue operation
CNN’s Stella Kim reported from Seoul, and Holly Yan wrote from Atlanta. CNN’s Frances Cha and Euan McKirdy also contributed to this report.