South Korea's government has admitted it miscounted the number of people who survived the ferry disaster off its coast last month.

It now says 172 people were rescued, rather than 174.

Officials also claim there are two more missing passengers than authorities previously knew about.

269 bodies have so far been recovered from the ship's wreckage.

Earlier this week, a 53-year-old diver involved in the search operations died in hospital after becoming unconscious in the water.

Yesterday, it was reported four officials of ferry operator Chonghaejin Marine Co. were arrested as part of the investigation into the disaster, including one of the company's executives.