JINDO - Divers retrieved the first bodies Sunday from inside the submerged South Korean ferry that capsized four days ago with hundreds of children on board, as families angered by the pace and focus of the rescue efforts scuffled with police. Coastguard officials said 19 bodies had been removed from the ship which sank on Wednesday morning, pushing operations further along the painful transition from rescue to recovery and identification. Prosecutors, meanwhile, revealed that the officer at the helm of the 6,825-tonne Sewol when it capsized was not familiar with those particular waters. The confirmed death toll from the disaster stood at 58 with 244 people still unaccounted for. Three bodies were pulled out of the fully submerged ferry just before midnight and another 16 were recovered later Sunday, a coastguard spokesman said. It was a watershed moment for distraught relatives who have clung desperately to the idea that some passengers may have survived in air pockets in the upturned vessel. The bodies were placed in tents at the harbour on Jindo island -- not far from the disaster site -- where the relatives have been camped out in a gymnasium since the ferry went down. In a process that looks set to be repeated with tragic frequency in the coming days, they were checked for IDs and other particulars, after which their relatives were informed and asked to make an official identification.Trauma of identification Some of the policemen standing guard at the tents were openly weeping, while the cries of the family members could be heard from inside. Of the 476 people on board the Sewol, 350 were high school students headed for the holiday island of Jeju. Devastated relatives have repeatedly denounced what they feel has been a botched, delayed and incompetent emergency response to the disaster. Nearly 200 family members set off Sunday on a hike from Jindo to Seoul -- 420 kilometres (260 miles) to the north -- where they planned to march on the presidential Blue House in protest. Scuffles broke out when they were prevented from crossing the bridge to the mainland by a large police detachment, and eventually they were forced to turn back. One of the marchers, Chung Hye-Sook, a mother of one of the missing students, said she was appalled that the authorities had begun taking DNA samples to facilitate identification of the bodies before the entire ferry had been searched. "What are those people thinking?!," Chung shouted. "We are asking them to save our children's lives. We can't even think about DNA testing. I want to save my child first," she said. Three giant floating cranes have been at the disaster site off the southern coast of South Korea for days, but the coastguard has promised it will not begin lifting the ferry until it is clear there is nobody left alive. Investigators have arrested the ferry's captain, Lee Joon-Seok who has been bitterly criticised for abandoning hundreds of passengers still trapped in the ferry as he made his own escape. Also detained were a 55-year-old helmsman and the ship's young and relatively inexperienced third officer, identified by her surname Park, who was in charge of the bridge when the disaster occurred. Tracking data shows the ship took a radical right turn while navigating through a group of islets off the southern coast. Such a sharp turn could have dislodged the heavy cargo manifest -- including more than 150 vehicles -- and destabilised the vessel, causing it to list heavily and then capsize.Inexperience at the helm? While Park, 26, had been sailing the Incheon-Jeju for six months, "it was the first time for her to navigate this particular route," a senior prosecutor told reporters Saturday. The captain said he was returning to the bridge from his cabin when the ship ran into trouble. Questioned as to why passengers had been ordered not to move for more than 40 minutes after the ship first foundered, the captain insisted he had acted in their best interests. "The currents were very strong ... I thought that passengers would be swept far away and fall into trouble if they evacuated," Lee said. A transcript of the last panicked communications between the Sewol and the Jindo Vehicle Traffic Service, show the captain repeatedly asking if there were vessels on hand to rescue any passengers if they abandoned ship. Only 174 were rescued when the ferry sank and no new survivors have been found since Wednesday. The ferry tragedy looks set to become one of South Korea's worst peacetime disasters. A Seoul department store collapsed in 1995, killing more than 500 people, while nearly 300 people died when a ferry capsized off the west coast in 1993.
More
Vincom Retail retains name after Vietnamese conglomerate Vingroup divests capital
‘Vincom Retail has no intention of altering its name’
Read more
As plastic treaty talks open, countries more divided than ever
A handful of fossil fuel-dependent nations calling themselves the 'Like-Minded Countries' have argued against limiting production or banning certain chemicals
1 day agoMichelangelo's David gets spa treatment in Florence
David's bi-monthly cleaning, then, is 'a form of respect, a form of dignity that we want to give to every work'
2 months agoAsia hit hardest by climate, weather disasters in 2023:UN
Asia was the world’s most disaster-hit region from climate and weather hazards in 2023, the United Nations said Tuesday, with floods and storms the chief cause of casualties and economic losses
2 days agoIn world first, Venice to trial day tickets
Day visitors will for the first time have to buy a five-euro ($5.3) ticket
1 day agoBattling climate change, Japan looks to seagrass for carbon capture
Japan, the world's fifth-largest emitter of greenhouse gases, covers a surface area smaller than California but has some of the longest coastlines in the world
5 hours agoHighlights
TikTok Shop’s Q1 revenue triples Lazada's in Vietnam
TikTok Shop’s turnover increased 15.5 percent over the last quarter of 2023
Hailstorms batter northern Vietnam
4 hours agoPhotos
Artist paints murals on house to raise awareness of COVID-19 prevention in Hanoi
He drew the virus, vaccine, and earth on the exterior walls of a house
Latest news
TikTok Shop’s Q1 revenue triples Lazada's in Vietnam
TikTok Shop’s turnover increased 15.5 percent over the last quarter of 2023
Vietnamese taxi firm Vinasun announces $25mn investment in hybrid cars amidst EV trend
The firm intends to invest VND630-650 billion (US$24.8-25.6 million) in purchasing 700 hybrid cars
Hailstorms batter northern Vietnam
The hailstorm in Van Ho District, Son La Province lasted about one hour
Battling climate change, Japan looks to seagrass for carbon capture
Japan, the world's fifth-largest emitter of greenhouse gases, covers a surface area smaller than California but has some of the longest coastlines in the world
Air quality in some parts of US worst in 25 years, report says
Cities with the poorest quality air are concentrated in the West
South Korea prepares system to detect illegal stock short selling
All short-selling transactions by institutional investors will be electronically processed and then filtered through a central detection system
Hanoi pedestrian space to stay open during upcoming Reunification Day holiday
The walking space surrounding the iconic Ho Guom will be open for six consecutive days
Severe drought scorches coffee plantations in Vietnam’s Central Highlands
The situation is putting the region’s crops at risk
Breakfast @ Tuoi Tre News — April 25
Good morning from Vietnam!
Vietnam FM Bui Thanh Son enjoys 'pho,' walks with Indonesian counterpart in Hanoi
This is not the first time that Minister Son has invited a foreign counterpart to have breakfast and take a stroll in the Vietnamese capital