Family members of 29-year-old Vietnamese Phan Ngoc Thanh, who was on board the capsized vessel off the Republic of Korea’s southwestern coast on April 16, have arrived in the RoK to wait for new information about her fate.

Born in the southernmost province of Ca Mau, Thanh got married and naturalised in the RoK last July under the name “Han Yun Ji”, with two children. She and her husband and son onboard the vessel are still unaccounted for while her five-year-old girl Kwon Ji-yeon was saved as the youngest passenger from the disaster.

Thanh’s father Phan Van Chay and her sister Phan Ngoc Hanh flew to the RoK on April 19 evening, with the assistance from the Vietnamese Embassy and the RoK’s Ministries of Foreign Affairs and Family and Gender Equality.

They relatives met with Kwon Ji-yeon and were taken to Chindo district where the center overseeing the rescue operation of the capsized Seawol ferry is located.

Chay said his family is still clinging on to the hope of a miracle to happen and stands ready for the worst situation.

The aunt who is taking care of Kwon Ji-yeon said there is no information on the spouses and their six-year-old son Kwon Hyuk-kyu.

The capsized five-storey ferry carried 476 crew and passengers, mainly high school students, to the RoK popular holiday destination of Jeju island.

The latest confirmed deaths from the disaster amounted to 104 and 198 others are still unaccounted for.

Over 60,000 Vietnamese women are married to RoK citizens and many people from the RoK are residing in Vietnam.-VNA