Search operations for the victims of the capsized ferry in South Korea discovered 48 bodies in a room on Friday.

All the victims were wearing life jackets and were believed to have been in a chaotic and cramped situation in the room before meeting their end.

To date, 183 bodies have been recovered. Hundreds more are still missing. There were 476 passengers on board the ferry during the incident.

The ferry sunk to hours after issuing a distress signal. 174 passengers managed to be rescued. Most of the passengers are from the Danwon high school.

The search and rescue operations have been criticised for being late to take action, causing more deaths than could have been avoided.