S Korean undersea divers renew search for ferry dead
29 April 2014 5:27 AM IST
Divers found only one body on Sunday after a week that saw an increasing number of corpses pulled from the ship as divers made their way through its labyrinth of cabins, lounges and halls. The number of dead from the April 16 sinking is 188, with 114 people believed missing, though a government emergency task force has said the ship’s passengers list could be inaccurate. Only 174 people survived, including 22 of the 29 crew members. Senior coast guard officer Kim Su-hyeon said that most of the remaining missing passengers are believed to be in 64 of the ship’s 111 rooms. Divers have entered 36 of those 64 rooms, coast guard officers said, but may need to go back into some because floating debris made it difficult for divers to be sure that there are no more dead bodies. Ko Myung-seok, an official with the emergency task force, said Monday that 92 divers were searching the ferry. He also said that the government was making plans to salvage the ferry once search efforts end but that details wouldn’t be available until officials talk with families of the victims.
On Sunday, South Korea’s prime minister resigned over the government’s handling of the sinking, blaming ‘deep-rooted evils’’ in society for the tragedy.
South Korean executive power is largely concentrated in the president, so Chung Hong-won’s resignation appears to be symbolic.
Presidential spokesman Min Kyung-wook said President Park Geun-hye would accept the resignation, but did not say when Chung would leave office. Chung’s resignation comes amid rising indignation over claims by the victims’ relatives that the government did not do enough to rescue or protect their loved ones. Most of the dead and missing were high school students on a school trip.
Investigators have searched the two service centers that deal with vessel traffic and that communicated with a crew member on the ferry during the sinking. Senior prosecutor Ahn Sang-don told reporters Monday that prosecutors also seized documents and recordings from a coast guard office in Mokpo, and would do the same at an emergency call service center that received a call from a student on the ship reporting the sinking. The emergency service center official connected a coast guard official with the student, who local media reports said was later found dead.
Without elaborating, Ahn said prosecutors on Sunday questioned the captain, the third mate and the
helmsman who were on the bridge when the ship began listing, as well as another captain of the ferry who was on vacation on the day of accident.
On Sunday, South Korea’s prime minister resigned over the government’s handling of the sinking, blaming ‘deep-rooted evils’’ in society for the tragedy.
South Korean executive power is largely concentrated in the president, so Chung Hong-won’s resignation appears to be symbolic.
Presidential spokesman Min Kyung-wook said President Park Geun-hye would accept the resignation, but did not say when Chung would leave office. Chung’s resignation comes amid rising indignation over claims by the victims’ relatives that the government did not do enough to rescue or protect their loved ones. Most of the dead and missing were high school students on a school trip.
Investigators have searched the two service centers that deal with vessel traffic and that communicated with a crew member on the ferry during the sinking. Senior prosecutor Ahn Sang-don told reporters Monday that prosecutors also seized documents and recordings from a coast guard office in Mokpo, and would do the same at an emergency call service center that received a call from a student on the ship reporting the sinking. The emergency service center official connected a coast guard official with the student, who local media reports said was later found dead.
Without elaborating, Ahn said prosecutors on Sunday questioned the captain, the third mate and the
helmsman who were on the bridge when the ship began listing, as well as another captain of the ferry who was on vacation on the day of accident.
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