The South Korean ferry captain responsible for last year's disaster that killed more than 300 people, mostly school children, was given an increased sentence of life in prison Tuesday by an appellate court that convicted him of homicide.

The 25 people confirmed dead Thursday include at least four students and two teachers, and there's fear that number will go much higher because so many of the passengers were from the school.

A ferry carrying 459 people, mostly high school students on an overnight trip to a tourist island, sank off South Korea's southern coast on Wednesday.