South Korea ferry engulfs 120, divers continue to look for missing passengers

The death toll in the sunken South Korean ferry increased to 120 on Tuesday even as the divers continued to battle poor visibility under water to retrieve the bodies.

Zee Media Bureau

Seoul: The confirmed death toll from South Korea`s ferry disaster rose sharply to more than 120 today as divers speeded up the grim task of recovering bodies from the submerged ship and police took two more of its crew into custody. Better weather and calm seas spurred their efforts but underwater visibility was still very poor, forcing divers to grope their way blindly though the corridors and cabins of the ferry that capsized and sank last Wednesday. Over 190 people continue missing with hopes of finding any survivors grim. Two of the three bodies which were retrieved Monday were Chinese. Whereas, the third body is that of a Russian girl which is still yet to be confirmed. Even as the rescue operations are on, the investigators are also probing the possible cause behind the tragedy that led to tipping and subsequent sinking of ferry. Seven crew members of the sunken ferry have been detained by the police. The role of the captain and crew is being widely criticised as they failed to evacuate the ship on time and told people to put on their life jackets and stay wherever they were. The South Korean leader Park Geun-hye condemned the behaviour of the crew and captain and said that it `tantamounts to murder.` "The actions of the captain and some crew members were utterly incomprehensible, unacceptable and tantamount to murder," the presidential Blue House quoted Park as saying in a meeting with senior aides, the AFP had reported. The South Korean ferry sank days ago with 476 people on board. Out of these, over 300 were school children from a single high school who were on an outing.