Diver Hwang Dae-sik, whose team had retrieved 14 bodies so far, said that “This is the most grueling and heartbreaking job of my career.” Over the past two days the divers continued to recover many of the children’s bodies through a maze of upturned decks from the sunken South Korea ferry. Many victims had broken fingers. According to NBC news, the media had suggested that the broken bones suggest the final story; that the victims frantically tried to climb walls or floors to escape in their last moments.
There were 476 passengers and crew on board, 339 were children. The Sewol sank April 16 during a routine trip from Incheon to the resort island of Jeju. Among its 476 passengers and crew were more than 300 high school students on a field trip. Authorities have reported that they have retrieved 159 bodies, leaving 143 passengers still missing. The victims of the April 16 disaster are students of a single high school in Ansan, near Seoul.
A spokesman for the government-wide emergency task force, Koh Myung-seok, reported that “The lounge is one big open space, so once in it we got our search done straight away. But in the case of the cabins, we will have to break down the walls in between because they are all compartments.” According to CNN News, Eleven members of the Sewol’s crew, including its captain, Capt. Lee Joon-seok, have been arrested in connection with the disaster. Koh Myung-seok said that according to USA Today, “Even if there is only one survivor,” Koh said, “our government will do its best to rescue that person, and then we will salvage the ferry.”
At first, I was just very sad, but now it’s like an endless wait,” said Woo Dong-suk, a construction worker and uncle of one of the students. According to Fox News he shared that, “It’s been too long already. The bodies must be decayed. The parents’ only wish right now is to find the bodies before they are badly decomposed.”
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