A student once listed as a survivor turned out on Friday to be one of the missing passengers, escalating the criticism over the government’s initial handling of the ferry disaster in waters off Korea’s southwestern coast.

The father of Moon Ji-sung expressed his anger over the erroneous list of survivors during his phone call with President Park Geun-hye on Friday morning, Cheong Wa Dae said.

The president obtained his mobile phone number when she visited the families of the victims in Jindo, South Jeolla Province, a day earlier.

“As his daughter was on the list of survivors, he said that his entire family combed through all of Jindo including sewage drains,” Park’s spokesperson Min Kyung-wook told reporters.

On Wednesday when the ill-fated ferry Sewol sank, the name of Moon’s daughter was on the list. But on Friday, the name was found to have been deleted. The Ministry of Public Administration and Security started to check for any additional errors on the list. 

By Song Sang-ho (sshluck@heraldcorp.com)