Jindo: Divers retrieved the first bodies on Sunday from inside the submerged South Korean ferry that capsized four days ago with hundreds of children on board, as families angered by the pace and focus of the rescue efforts scuffled with police.
The confirmed death toll from the disaster stood at 58 with 244 people still unaccounted for.
Coastguard officials said 19 bodies had been removed from the ship which sank on Wednesday morning, pushing operations further along the painful transition from rescue to recovery and identification.
Prosecutors, meanwhile, revealed that the officer at the helm of the 6,825-tonne Sewol when it capsized was not familiar with those particular waters.
Three bodies were pulled out of the fully submerged ferry just before midnight and another 16 were recovered later today, a coastguard spokesman said.
It was a watershed moment for distraught relatives who have clung desperately to the idea that some passengers may have survived in air pockets in the upturned vessel.
Prosecutors, meanwhile, revealed that the officer at the helm of the 6,825-tonne Sewol when it capsized was not familiar with those particular waters.
Three bodies were pulled out of the fully submerged ferry just before midnight and another 16 were recovered later today, a coastguard spokesman said.
It was a watershed moment for distraught relatives who have clung desperately to the idea that some passengers may have survived in air pockets in the upturned vessel.
