The third officer was at the helm of the ferry that capsized off South Korea, investigators said, as divers worked to access the sunken hull.

A total of 270 people - including scores of high school students - remain missing after Wednesday's disaster.

Twenty-six people are now known to have died and 179 were rescued.

It is not clear why the ferry sank, but experts have suggested it either hit a rock or turned sharply, unbalancing the vessel as cargo shifted.

The vessel - named Sewol - had been travelling from Incheon, in the north-west, to the southern resort island of Jeju. It capsized and sank within a period of two hours, officials said.

(BBC)