Video footage captured on a victim's mobile phone shows the final minutes of ferry passengers as a South Korean ferry capsized and sank.

The Sewol ferry was on a routine trip south from the port of Incheon to the traditional holiday island of Jeju on April 16.

More than 300 people, most of them students and teachers on a field trip from the Danwon High School on the outskirts of Seoul, died or are missing and presumed dead.

The confirmed death toll from the ferry disaster on Thursday (May 1) was 213 with about 90 people still unaccounted for.

In the footage provided by Newstapa, a website run by the Korean Center for Investigative Journalism, contains a conversation between students on board describing the moment of sinking.

"The ship is leaning! Yo, help me!" one is heard saying.

"It's leaning this way. I can't move."

"Nonsense. I want to get off. I mean it."

"Why are you getting your life jacket? You're stupid. We don't want to die. We don't want to die."

Passengers were not directed to evacuate.

"Do not move from your current location," an unidentified crew member said through loudspeaker.

Some students did not take it seriously and sang a theme song of movie "Titanic".

"This is fun!"

"This is like Titanic."

Another student left a last message to parents.

"Please if only I could live. Mom, Dad, I love you."

A father of student victim, Park Jong-dae, released the mobile phone footage to local news media, after recovering his son's personal items from police.

The video begins at 8:52 a.m. and lasts until 09:09a.m.on April 16, three minutes before the ferry sent out a distress call.

A boy called a fire station on his mobile phone at 8.52 a.m. on April 16, a fire officer said. The ship sent out a distress call to Jeju at 8.55 a.m. Jeju then notified the nearest control station on the island of Jindo.