The Chinese embassy in South Korea has confirmed that a third Chinese national, a schoolgirl, is among the 270 people still missing following the sinking of a South Korean ferry on Tuesday that has so far claimed 28 lives.

The Chinese embassy has not provided further details about the third missing Chinese national but said that it was closely monitoring the ongoing search and rescue operations and had contacted South Korean authorities for details about the missing Chinese.

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The Foreign Ministry of China has also urged its South Korean counterparts to beef up its search and rescue operation and find the missing Chinese citizens as soon as possible.

At least 28 people, including 12 students, have already been confirmed dead while 270 are still missing, South Korean authorities said on Friday. Aside from the Chinese schoolgirl, two other Chinese citizens were confirmed missing in the tragedy.

A report by the China Central Television revealed that the two missing Chinese were married couple based on the claim of a woman who said she was a relative of the two.

The woman said the couple was from the Korean ethnic group in Jilin province and that the two were working in South Korea. She said the couple boarded the ferry for their driving holiday in the resort island of Jeju, the destination of the ill-fated ferry.

On Friday morning, South Korea has mobilized three huge salvage ships to pull the sunken vessel off the waters with the hope of rescuing more passengers believed to be trapped inside the ferry. Divers, however, found it difficult to penetrate the body of the vessel due to the strong current and huge waves.

Among the passengers aboard the vessel that sank were 325 high school students and 15 teachers from the Danwon High School in Ansan. The students were on their way to Jeju Island for a four-day field trip.