Divers recover first bodies from submerged South Korean ferry

Captain of capsized vessel defends evacuation delay after being arrested with two other crew as divers battling strong currents and poor visibility managed to recover three bodies from the Sewol.

South Korean rescue workers bring ashore three bodies retrieved from the capsized ferry at a harbour in Jindo on April 19, 2014. Truth Leem / AFP

JINDO, South Korea // The captain of the South Korean ferry that capsized three days ago with 476 people on board defended his decision to delay its evacuation, as divers yesterday retrieved three bodies from the submerged vessel.
Investigators arrested Lee Joon-Seok and two of his crew early yesterday morning. All three have been criticised for abandoning hundreds of passengers trapped in the ferry as they made their own escape.
Mr Lee was charged with negligence and failing to secure the safety of passengers, in breach of maritime law.
The recovery of the first bodies from the ship yesterday raised the confirmed death toll to 36, with 266 of the passengers - most of them children on a high-school holiday trip - still unaccounted for.
As the ship's officers were being arrested, dive teams who had spent two days vainly battling powerful currents and near-zero visibility, finally penetrated the passenger decks of the 6,825-tonne Sewol.
"Divers broke through the window of a passenger cabin just before midnight and pulled out three bodies," a coastguard official said.
All three were wearing lifejackets, the official said, adding that two were male while the gender of the third was not immediately confirmed.
Relatives of the missing passengers, who have been sleeping in a gymnasium on Jindo island near the scene of the disaster, were shown video footage from one dive. Even with a powerful underwater torch, visibility was measured in inches as the diver was seen groping his way blindly along the side of the ship with the help of a pre-attached rope.
The coastguard said more ropes were being attached ahead of a major push to get more divers inside the vessel.
Captain Lee was arraigned along with the two officers in charge of the bridge at the time.
Dressed in dark raincoats with their hoods pulled up, the trio kept their heads bowed as they were paraded before television cameras in a police station.
Questioned as to why passengers had been ordered not to move for more than 40 minutes after the ship first foundered, Capt Lee said it was a safety measure.
"At the time a rescue ship had not arrived. There were also no fishing boats around for rescuers, or other ships to help," Capt Lee said.
"The currents were very strong and the water was cold at that time in the area. I thought that passengers would be swept far away and fall into trouble if they evacuated thoughtlessly."
Experts said many more people might have escaped if they had moved to reach evacuation points before the ship listed sharply and water started flooding in.
The relatives camped out in the Jindo gym have criticised the pace of the rescue operation, accusing officials of incompetence and indifference. Only 174 people were rescued when the ferry sank and no survivors have been found since Wednesday.
* Agence France-Presse