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Death toll rises to 36, no new survivors found

April 19, 2014
ferry

Rescue operations will continue throughout the night. (Yonhap)

By Yoon Sung-won, Nam Hyun-woo

JINDO ― Only sobs and moans were heard in a gymnasium in Jindo, South Jeolla Province, where friends and family of passengers who went missing in the ferry Sewol’s accident gathered to watch a video clip of two divers going underwater and attempting to enter the ship, Saturday.

The video, however, only demonstrated the difficulty of operating down there and hinted that prospects for rescue were getting dim. Families cried out in sorrow again, out of sadness, despair.

There were no reports of having found any survivors despite efforts that continued for a fourth day to search and rescue hundreds still unaccounted for in the accident, in which the ferry sank in waters off the southwestern coast.

As of 0:30 a.m., Sunday, in Korea (8:30 a.m Saturday in Los Angeles) , 36 people were confirmed dead as three more dead bodies were found. With 266 still missing, the number of rescued remained at 174.

Three more bodies were found in a cabin around midnight, the Coast Guard said. Among them, two were confirmed as male. Officers added that divers have managed to enter a cabin of the five-story ship by breaking a window.

However, it was not confirmed the bodies were those witnessed earlier.

On Saturday, a civilian diver witnessed three bodies wearing lifejackets trapped in a cabin on the fourth deck, the Coast Guard said. The diver said he saw the bodies through a window, but couldn’t reach them because cargos were barricading the way.

A group of Coast Guard officers on a boat pull an unidentified object from the waters, Saturday, near the site where the ferry Sewol sank in a deadly accident in waters off the southwestern coast. As of 0:30 a.m., Sunday, (Korea Times photo by Shim Hyun-chul)

A group of Coast Guard officers on a boat pull an unidentified object from the waters, Saturday, near the site where the ferry Sewol sank in a deadly accident in waters off the southwestern coast. As of 0:30 a.m., Sunday, (Korea Times photo by Shim Hyun-chul)

The Coast Guard found the body of a female passenger, the 30th victim, at around 5 p.m., some 10 meters off the site. She was reportedly wearing a lifejacket. Two other victims were also found near the sunken hull at around 6 p.m. and the 33rd was found at 7:40 p.m. Their identities have yet to be confirmed.

Around noon, more than 160 boats and several airplanes were seen patrolling the site to support the salvage operation.

The weather was expected to remain fine until noon. However, high waves began to toss and turn and the boat carrying reporters swayed fiercely in all directions.

The Coast Guard said three guiding ropes were set up inside the hull to help divers attempt to enter cabins. As of Saturday afternoon, more than 650 are participating in the operation.

“A total of 652 divers from the Navy, the government and civilian circles are fighting time to find the missing passengers,” Coast Guard official Ko Myung-seok told reporters.

The sea police added that it would concentrate its operations on the cabins, pinning possibility on the hope that there may be survivors trapped in there.

As the sun set, hundreds of flares and fishing boats with strong lights prepared to illuminate the site so that operations could continue throughout the night.

More than 87 hours after the vessel was wrecked, families of missing persons insisted the government set up a net around the site of the accident to prevent the corpses of potential victims from being swept away. However, many at Paengmok harbor, where the families were camped, said it was already too late.

As time passes, there are also concerns being raised over the oil leaked from the sunken ship.

From a boat circling the site, dark oil slicks of a 1-kilometer radius were spotted.

Twenty-three vessels were deployed to contain further spread, the Coast Guard said. Sewol reportedly was loaded with 203,000 liters of bunker-C oil and diesel.

Divers also suffered minor injuries and from extreme fatigue, as they were stretched to the search effort.

In one case, a civilian diver was reported to have sustained an injury around his eyes during underwater operations.

Meanwhile, investigations over the cause of the tragedy picked up speed, with Sewol’s captain Lee Joon-seok, 69, and two crewmembers arrested.

The Mokpo branch of the Gwangju District Court issued warrants against them for having neglected their duty as sailors and violated the Seafarer’s Law. Among them, Lee faced a total of five charges including manslaughter.

Before he was detained, however, Lee claimed that he had ordered passengers to evacuate before he abandoned the ship. The change in attitude came after Lee met his legal counsel.

Survivors had claimed that Lee had instructed passengers to remain seated even as the ship was listing leftward. To this, he had claimed he had done so because no rescue vessels had arrived.

When questioned why he did not tell passengers to evacuate, Lee replied, “I did.” He added that he admits to some of his charges.

Lee has been at the center of public uproar for having been one of the first on the ferry to be rescued, while hundreds of passengers were desperately struggling to find their way out.