Bone fragments recovered from the wreck of South Korea’s Sewol ferry are from an animal and not human remains, the maritime ministry said Tuesday.
Shoes belonging to some of the missing victims of the ferry disaster in 2014 that killed 304 people were also discovered on board the wreck.
But relatives of nine missing people say they fear their loved ones’ remains may have slipped into the ocean during the operation to raise the Sewol from the sea floor.
The ship, with 476 people on board, sank in April 2014 while on its way from Inchon to Jeju and the wreck was just off the island of Jindo on the south-west tip of Korea.
The nine missing victims include four schoolchildren, two teachers and a married couple and their child who were moving to Jeju to start a new life.
Many of those who died were children from Danwon High School in Ansan, near Seoul, who were on a school trip. The bodies of 295 victims were recovered after the ship sank but nine bodies have never been accounted for.
The wreck was brought to the surface last week in a complex salvage operation, nearly three years after it went down and it is being towed to shore on a huge heavy lift transport vessel.
The operation to raise the 145-metre ferry, which has cost more than £65million, is believed to be among the largest-ever recoveries of a wreck in one piece.
Yesterday salvage crews found six bones near a beam beneath the front side of the ferry.
Lee Cheoljo, an official from the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries, said: ‘It’s presumed that the bones came out with the mud that spilled out from the ship’s front.’
He said shoes and other personal items were also found on A deck.
But a group representing the families issued a statement calling for the government to take stronger action to prevent the remains from getting lost during the salvage operations.
They called for the government to immediately search the mud which has come out of the ferry and the seabed.
The grieving families said: ‘It’s now hard to discount the possibility that the remains could have gotten lost while the Sewol was being lifted from the seafloor and loaded onto the semi-submersible transport vessel. It’s hard to withhold our feeling of devastation.’
The salvage crews drilled dozens of holes in the Sewol in an effort to empty it of water and fuel before it could be transported to the port of Mokpo.
Relatives have expressed concerns that remains of the missing victims could slip out through the holes and get lost.
Divers wrapped up their search in November 2014, and since then a handful of relatives set up home at Paengmok, a port an hour away from the accident site.
As part of the salvage operation, underwater barriers were set up around the wreck and searches will be carried out in the area as well as on board the Sewol.
The sinking, one of the country’s worst-ever maritime disasters, dealt a crushing blow to President Park Geun-Hye, who has since resigned because of an unconnected scandal.
Investigations concluded the tragedy was largely man-made – the cumulative result of an illegal redesign of the ship which made it top-heavy, an overloaded cargo bay, inexperienced crew and a questionable relationship between the ship operators and state regulators.
The ship’s captain, Lee Joon-seok, who disgracefully fled the ship as it went down, was jailed for life for causing deaths by negligence.
Join GhanaStar.com to receive daily email alerts of breaking news in Ghana. GhanaStar.com is your source for all Ghana News. Get the latest Ghana news, breaking news, sports, politics, entertainment and more about Ghana, Africa and beyond.