Bad weather slows Sewol body search
Family members of the victims of the Sewol ferry disaster embrace each other at Paengmok Port on Jindo, South Jeolla Province, where strong wins held back divers from searching the bodies on the sunken ship. / Yonhap
By Kim Tong-hyung
Bad weather prevented divers from searching bodies on the sunken Sewol ferry for the third consecutive day on Monday morning.
The Sewol ferry sank off the waters of the southwestern island of Jindo, South Jeolla Province, on April 16 with 476 people aboard. Only 172 of them were rescued and 29 bodies remain uncovered.
Although the high wind-high wave alert in the waters of the area was lifted as of 7 a.m. Monday, the conditions remained unfavorable to resume the search operations, according to the joint team of civilian and military divers.
A total of 128 divers will work in shifts to mainly search convenience facilities comprising singing rooms, a dining hall and a lounge on the fourth and fifth decks.
The divers were hoping to resume the operations in the afternoon.
"The team is mulling entering the multi-person suite on the fourth floor of the left side of ship's stern by removing obstacles and breaking the wall with iron levers," Koh Myung-suk, a senior Coast Guard official of the team, told reporters.