A family member of a passenger onboard the capsized South Korean ferry Sewol closes her eyes at a port where family members gathered to wait for news from the rescue team in Jindo April 18, 2014. Rescuers struggled with strong waves and murky waters on Thursday as they searched for hundreds of people, most of them teenagers from the same school, still missing after a South Korean ferry capsized on Wednesday. [Photo/Agencies]

SEOUL - A Chinese schoolgirl was among the missing passengers aboard a South Korean ferry ship, which capsized off South Korea's southwest coast, the Chinese embassy said Friday.

Two Chinese nationals, one male and the other female, had been confirmed aboard the ill-fated ship from the western port city of Incheon to the southern resort island of Jeju.

The other two missing Chinese citizens, a 39-year-old man and a 38-year-old woman, are a married couple, said China Central Television.

A Chinese woman, who claimed to be a relative of the couple, said in South Korea that she was certain her sister and brother-in-law were on board. The couple, from the Korean ethnic group in Jilin province, were working in South Korea, Chinese media quoted the relative as saying.

She also showed pictures on her cellphone that she said were taken by the couple from the ferry. She said she received the pictures about 90 minutes before the accident.

According to the female relative, the two chose the ferry because they wanted to have a driving holiday in the southern resort island of Jeju, the ferry’s destination.

Chinese authorities were seeking immediate clarification from South Korea concerning passengers still unaccounted for.

The Chinese Foreign Ministry asked South Korea on Thursday to check the information of missing Chinese citizens and find them as soon as possible.