Jindo , South Korea ( CNN ) -- The first distress call from the ferry Sewol came not from the crew , but from a boy who used a cell phone to contact emergency services from aboard the sinking ship , the South Korean coast guard confirmed to CNN Tuesday . CNN affiliate JTBC reported that the boy dialed South Korea 's emergency number , telling dispatchers for a local fire service , `` Help us . The boat is sinking . '' The boy 's fate was not clear . It was not until three minutes later , the coast guard told CNN , that the ship 's crew made a distress call to maritime officials . The revelation is likely to add to questions about the conduct of the crew , nine of whom are facing charges in last week 's sinking . Among other things , authorities have questioned why an inexperienced third mate was guiding the ship at the time of the accident , why so few of the ferry 's life rafts were deployed and why crew members ordered passengers to don life vests and stay put . At least 146 people are confirmed dead , according to the joint task force leading the search . Earlier , when the death toll was reported to be 128 , authorities had said that 174 people were still missing . The death toll had been expected to climb as divers were able to reach the ship 's cafeteria , where many passengers were thought to be when the ship began to have troubles last week . But early Wednesday , the coast guard said no bodies had been found in the cafeteria . Search for survivors goes on . Rescuers will continue to focus on the third and fourth decks of the five-level ship , said Koh Myung-seok , a spokesman for the joint task force . Above the ship , two buoys marked its location in the water , surrounded by dozens of vessels , ranging from dinghies to warships . Inflatable powerboats zipped across the sea , ferrying divers to the area . Searchers used guide ropes to lead them into the submerged ferry . `` Divers ca n't even see their hands , '' Koh said . Bard Yoon , one of the divers , said conditions are so bad `` my heart aches . '' `` We 're going in thinking there may be survivors , '' he said . `` When we have to come back with nothing , we ca n't even face the families . '' On shore , relatives of missing passengers waited anxiously , many of them parents of high school students who were on a field trip . As bodies come in , they are called into white domed tents to identify the remains of their loved ones . Authorities said the efforts are still a search and rescue operation , but no survivors have been found since 174 people were rescued soon after the ferry went down . Captain and crew criticized . As the search continues , investigators are trying to figure out what happened to make the ship list before finally capsizing and sinking into the ocean . Initial criticism has focused on the captain and some crew members . South Korean President Park Geun-hye said Monday that their actions were `` akin to murder . '' The captain , Lee Joon-seok , has defended his decision to tell passengers to stay put as the ferry began sinking , saying he was concerned about the sea 's strong currents and cold water as well as the lack of rescue ships . Questions have been raised about why the third mate was steering the ship when it ran into trouble on its way to a popular vacation island . The captain was in his cabin at the time . Chonghaejin Marine , which operated the ferry , has posted an apology on its website . `` We pray for the Sewol victims who lost their precious lives due to the accident , '' it said . `` We prostrate ourselves before the victims ' families and beg for forgiveness . '' In recent maritime disasters , captains did n't hang around . Students remember vice principal who took own life . Murky waters cloud the horror facing rescue divers . CNN 's Kyung Lah and K.J . Kwon reported from Jindo , and CNN 's Michael Pearson reported and wrote from Atlanta . CNN 's Jethro Mullen , Khushbu Shah , Tim Schwarz , Steven Jiang and Judy Kwon , journalists Stella Kim and Jung-eun Kim , and translator Hyoun Joo Song also contributed to this report .
NEW : The death toll has risen to 146 , authorities say . No bodies found in cafeteria , where many people were thought to have been . Crew made a distress call three minutes after passenger , South Korean coast guard says . Nine crew members facing charges in ferry sinking .