Beijing, April 19 (IANS): The vice-principal of a South Korean high school who accompanied students on the ferry that capsized committed suicide Friday.

Kang Min-gyu, 52, hanged himself with his belt from a tree outside a gym in the port city of Jindo where relatives of those missing, mostly children from the school, were gathered, Shanghai Daily reported.

He had been reported missing since Thursday.

Kang did not leave a suicide note and the authorities had started looking for him after he was reported missing by a fellow teacher, the police said.

The Sewol, carrying 476 passengers and crew, capsized Wednesday on a journey from the port of Incheon to the southern holiday island of Jeju.

The passengers aboard the vessel included 325 high school students and 15 teachers on a four-day field trip.

Twenty eight people were confirmed dead and 268 are still missing.

A total of 179 people were rescued.

Three large salvage ships arrived at the scene Friday morning to pull the ship out of the water.
It is expected to take over a month to salvage the submerged vessel.