By Lee Kyung-min
Expectations are growing that recovery workers will soon encounter the remains of the nine missing victims who died aboard the ill-fated ferry Sewol, Thursday, after they entered the compartment where most of the Danwon High School boys stayed.
According to the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries, the workers cut a 1.2-meter-by-1.5-meter entrance in the rear part of the passenger compartment on the ferry’s fourth level, the second such entrance made into the compartment following one made in the front of the compartment.
“We added two teams of eight to enter the ferry using both entrances to facilitate the recovery process. We expect the recovery process will pick up speed,” said Lee Cheol-jo, the ministry official in charge of overseeing the salvage and recovery operation.
The group consists of eight officials _ one each from the Coast Guard, Fire Department and National Forensic Service, and five from Korea Salvage, a local contractor hired by the ministry to conduct search operations. They entered the ferry to sift through mud to find the remains and belongings of the victims. Instead of digging with large shovels, which could break human bones, the team used small trowels as the workers searched by hand. Workers also set up surveillance cameras, lighting and ventilation systems.
The team decided to cut nine entrances in the passenger compartment after concluding that it would not interfere with finding the cause of the sinking.
The workers are using a sieve that can separate objects as small as 3 millimeters in diameter, considering the smallest remains of the victims would be the size of a tooth belonging to the youngest victim, a boy, Kwon Hyuk-kyu, who was seven at the time of the sinking.
The workers began separating what could be the remains of the victims from the recovered mud that had been put in 2,600 large bags weighing between 150 and 200 kilograms each. The process was overseen by two archeology experts: Chungbuk National University archaeology professor Park Sun-ju and Yeungnam University professor Song Jang-gun.
The workers emptied one bag at a time on a flat and level board before slowly washing the contents using water at 30 degrees Celsius to minimize possible damage to the remains.
Upon finding what are believed to be the remains of the victims, the team will halt search operations and notify the bereaved family members.
Meanwhile, the special committee investigating the Sewol said the investigation into the ferry will begin as early as late May, after it secures a budget and hires workers.
The committee will convene a second official meeting today to discuss the particulars about who should investigate which papers submitted to the committee as evidence.
The hundreds of thousands of papers were sent from a joint investigation team of police, the prosecution, courts, the Board of Audit and Inspection, a now-defunct special committee that first investigated the ferry and the Korea Maritime Safety Tribunal. The committee said it plans to convene meetings every Friday.
As of Thursday, more than 160 objects were recovered including four cellphones, clothing, shoes, bags, purses, a student ID and cosmetics.
The phones were handed over to the special committee as they are deemed to have probative value in determining the cause of the ferry sinking. The committee plans to send them to an independent private body to restore their data.