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A salvage worker stands on top of the sunken ferry Sewol during an operation to resurface it in the sea off Jindo, South Korea, on Friday.
A salvage worker stands on top of the sunken ferry Sewol during an operation to resurface it in the sea off Jindo, South Korea, on Friday. Photograph: Reuters
A salvage worker stands on top of the sunken ferry Sewol during an operation to resurface it in the sea off Jindo, South Korea, on Friday. Photograph: Reuters

South Korea's Sewol ferry emerges amid hopes last passengers will be found

This article is more than 7 years old

Relatives of nine passengers still missing watched as 6,800-ton ferry was brought to surface, ready to taken to port and be searched

South Korean efforts to bring a sunken, 6,800-ton ferry back to land cleared an obstacle on Friday after divers cut off a dangling vehicle ramp.

Removing the ramp allowed workers to raise the ferry to a height where it can be loaded onto a semi-submersible transport vessel and taken to a port.

More than 300 people – most of whom were students on a high school trip – died when the Sewol sank on 16 April 2014, touching off an outpouring of national grief and soul searching about long-ignored public safety and regulatory failures. Public outrage over what was seen as a botched rescue job by the government contributed to the recent ousting of Park Geun-hye as president.

Salvage crews raised the Sewol until its upper side was about 13 metres above the water’s surface so they could load it onto the transport vessel about three kilometres away.

The ferry’s captain is serving a life sentence after a court found him guilty of homicide through ‘wilful negligence’. Photograph: Pool/Getty Images

Workers plan to complete loading the ferry by midnight on Friday. The waters where the ferry sank are notorious for dangerous currents. The sea is relatively calm now, but currents are forecast to strengthen on Saturday.

Workers on two barges began the salvage operation on Wednesday night, rolling up 66 cables connected to a metal frame that divers spent months placing beneath the ferry.

The bodies of 295 passengers were recovered after the sinking, but nine are still missing. Relatives, some of whom were watching from two fishing boats just outside the operation area, hope those remains will be found inside the ferry. Some cried as they watched the emerging wreckage with telescopes.

“I shouted in joy when we heard that the ship surfaced at dawn. I thought we finally can find the missing nine,” Lee Geum-hee, the mother of a missing school girl, told a television crew. “But when I actually saw the ship coming up, I was devastated. All this time my poor child was in that cold, dirty place. It was heart wrenching.”

The sunken ferry Sewol lies on its side after its sinking in April 2014. Photograph: Reuters

Once the Sewol is loaded onto the transport vessel, it will take about two weeks for it to reach a port 90 kilometres away in the city of Mokpo.

Workers will then begin clearing mud and debris and search for the remains of the missing victims. An investigation committee will also search for clues that could further explain the cause of the sinking, which has been blamed on overloaded cargo, improper storage and other negligence.

The ferry’s captain is serving a life sentence after a court found him guilty of committing homicide through wilful negligence because he fled the ship without issuing an evacuation order.

The bodies of nine ferry passengers are still missing. Photograph: Reuters

Ousted president Park was forced to defend herself against accusations she was out of contact for several hours on the day of the sinking. The allegations were included in an impeachment bill lawmakers passed against Park in December, amid broader corruption suspicions.

Park was formally removed from office by the constitutional court earlier this month. She is now under criminal investigation over suspicions she conspired with a confidante to extort money and favours from companies and allow the friend to secretly interfere with state affairs.

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