We are not dead yet'; passengers texted as South Korean ferry sank

No phone connection so there is no Internet connection. So just sending text message. There are few people on the ship, can't see a thing, it's totally dark. So there are few men and women, women are screaming," says one purported text message from a passenger obtained by CNN. There are a few people in the ship," the student writes to his mother, "and we are not dead yet, so please send along this message. A passenger describes women screaming in the darkness. A father learns his child is trapped. A son, fearing death, tells his mother he loves her. Investigators haven't said what caused a South Korean ferry boat carrying hundreds of passengers to capsize on Wednesday. But as rescuers searched frigid waters for nearly 300 missing people text messages surfaced describing the harrowing moments after the ferry started to roll. CNN affiliate YTN reported on several messages, purportedly from passengers aboard the sinking vessel to their loved ones. CNN could not independently confirm the authenticity of the messages or when they were sent. It's also unclear what happened to the people who sent them. The messages, widely reported in South Korean media, paint a chaotic picture of the situation aboard the ferry as hundreds of passengers waited for help and some reached out to loved ones.