Keeping hope alive - The Korea Times

A woman looks out of a window in a gym on Jindo Island, South Jeolla Province, Sunday. Several hundred family members and friends of those who might still be trapped in the sunken ferry Sewol have stayed at the gym for the last five days since the accident, waiting for news of rescue efforts. / Korea Times photos by Shim Hyun-chul

By Yoon Sung-won,Shim Hyun-chul

JINDO — A woman stood beside a window at a gym in Jindo on Sunday morning.

It was not possible nor needed to be asked what she was doing.

Her shoulders shook hard as she breathed heavily, sobbing in silence. Maybe she was thinking about her child who might still be trapped inside the ill-fated ferry Sewol.

Everyone would hate to say it out loud, but the prospect of any survivors has now become less likely as more than 100 hours have passed since the accident occurred.

Experts said survivors could remain alive for 72 hours in such circumstances. The grief of losing a child is heartbreaking, and if it comes unexpectedly, the pain is beyond description.

Volunteer workers who have their own children seemed to understand the pain to some extent, though not entirely.

They shed tears as they handed out relief supplies and food to the families.

Looking around, there were several hundred others who were parents, family members or friends of those who are still missing.

Walking past, or lying down on mattresses, they didn’t talk — just sighed sporadically. Like the woman beside window, they all seemed too exhausted to even cry.

People pray during an Easter service presided over by a member of the Salvation Army to pray for the survival of missing passengers at Paengmok Port, Sunday.

A Coast Guard vessel sails into the Paengmok Port, carrying corpses from the deadly ferry accident, Friday.

A diver jumps into the water at the site of the submerged ferry Sewol, some 25 kilometers off the southwest coast, during a search and rescue operations, Friday.

A woman tries to sleep under a blanket after staying up all night at a gym in Jindo Island, Sunday.

Family members of those missing from the sunken ferry Sewol fill a gym on Jindo Island, South Jeolla Province, Sunday. They have been there for the past five days, anxiously awaiting news of their loved ones.

Relatives of missing passengers waiting in a gym in Jindo Sunday take a DNA test to help identify bodies retrieved from the Sewol.