Teenaged student survivors of South Korea's ferry disaster have begun giving video testimony under tight security in the murder trial of the vessel's captain and crew.
It's the first time the survivors - all from Dawon High School in Ansan city south of Seoul - have given evidence in the trial which began more than a month ago.
Police cordons blocked public access to the district court in Ansan City, outside Seoul, on Monday as the students arrived in a red mini bus and were escorted into the building by a tight phalanx of police officers.
The actual trial is taking place in Gwangju, 265km south of Seoul, but the judges and lawyers went to the court in Ansan to hold a special two-day session for the 17 students who agreed to testify.
Out of concern they might feel intimidated, the student witnesses were not required to appear in the main courtroom and offered their testimony by video from a nearby room.
Their names have not been disclosed and, while their evidence is audible in the courtroom, their faces are visible only to the judges and to lawyers for the defence and prosecution.
Of the 476 people aboard the 6,825-tonne Sewol ferry when it capsized on April 16 off the southern coast, 325 were Dawon High School students on an organised outing.
Only 75 students survived.
The tragedy, and in particular the loss of so many young lives, rocked South Korea with an overwhelming sense of collective shock and grief.
Sewol captain Lee Joon-Seok and three senior crew members are accused of "homicide through wilful negligence" - a charge that can carry the death penalty.
Eleven other crew are being tried on lesser violations of maritime law.
The bulk of the charges against the crew arise from the fact that Lee and the others chose to abandon ship while hundreds of people were still trapped inside the heavily-listing vessel before it capsized.
The final death toll was just over 300.
