Bones and shoes belonging to some of the missing victims of a South Korean ferry disaster in 2014 that killed 304 people have been 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.
Salvage workers who raised South Korea’s sunken Sewol ferry found bone fragments on Tuesday believed to be from victims missing since the 2014 disaster, the maritime ministry said.
The wreck was brought to the surface last week in a complex salvage operation, nearly three years after it went down with the death of more than 300 people, and placed onto a semi-submersible ship that will finally bring it to shore.
On Tuesday, crews found six bones near a beam beneath the front side of the ferry, which had been loaded onto a heavy lift transport vessel that will carry it to port, said Lee Cheoljo, an official from the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries.
It wasn’t immediately clear whether the bones, measuring from 4 to 18 centimeters (1.5 to 7 inches), belonged to one person or multiple people, said Lee, adding that DNA tests to identify the victims would take at least two to three weeks. Crews also found shoes and other items that were presumed to have belonged to victims.
‘It’s presumed that the bones came out with the mud that spilled out from the ship’s front,’ said Lee, adding that the bones might have come out from the ship’s A-deck, where passenger cabins were.
He said crews suspended operations to empty the ferry of fuel and water and remove buoyancy equipment after the bones were discovered at around 11:25 a.m.
Crews on the transport vessel have drilled dozens of holes in the ferry in an effort to empty it of water and fuel before it’s ready to be transported to a port in the city of Mokpo. Relatives had expressed concerns that remains of the missing victims could slip out through the holes and get lost.
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 also called for the government to immediately search the mud the ferry has so far emitted, as well as the seabed where it was lifted from.
‘It’s now hard to discount the possibility that the (remains of the victims) could have gotten lost while the Sewol was being lifted from the seafloor and loaded onto the semi-submersible transport vessel,’ the group said. ‘It’s hard to withhold our feeling of devastation.’
Almost all the victims were schoolchildren and nine bodies were still unaccounted for, raising the prospect that they could still be inside the vessel and leaving their families emotionally trapped in the grieving process.
Six fragments of bone ranging in length from four to 18 centimetres were recovered on the deck of the semi-submersible Dockwise White Marlin, Lee Cheol-Jo, a senior official in charge of the salvage operation, told reporters.
‘They are suspected to have been found among sand that leaked out from an opening at the entrance of the vessel or through a window,’ Lee said.
There was no indication whether they were from a single victim, or several individuals.
Officials from the National Forensic Service as well as the coast guard and the health ministry have been dispatched to identify the remains, a process expected to take around two to three weeks, Lee said.
The operation to raise the 145-metre ferry, which has cost more than $82 million, is believed to be among the largest-ever recoveries of a wreck in one piece.
The salvage operation had been a key demand of the families of the nine missing victims — four schoolchildren, two teachers and a married couple and their child — who were moving to Jeju, the ship’s destination, to start a new life.
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.
The semi-submersible is expected to set off for Mokpo, a large port on the southern coast some 87 kilometres (54 miles) away, on Thursday.
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 now-ousted president Park Geun-Hye.
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.
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