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South Korea recovers more dead from ferry

South Korean divers retrieved a further thirteen bodies from inside a sunken ferry on Sunday, bringing the official death toll to 49. Each body was draped in cloth and taken on a stretcher into an identification tent. A rescue operation has now turned into a grim search through the stricken vessel to recover the remaining passengers, numbering more than 250. Most of the people who are still unaccounted for after Wednesday’s capsize are schoolchildren. Three crew members, including the captain, were arrested on Saturday and charged with crimes relating to negligence. Investigations are looking at how the cargo was stowed, the safety record of the ship operator and the actions of the crew. Hundreds of parents cling to the hope that there may be some survivors trapped under the water, but their grief and desperation is turning to anger at the slow speed of the rescue efforts. The sinking looks set to be South Korea’s worst maritime disaster in 21 years in terms of loss of life.