DONGGEOCHADO, SOUTH KOREA // South Korea began raising the sunken Sewol ferry on Wednesday, nearly three years after the disaster killed more than 300 people and dealt a crippling blow to now-ousted president Park Geun-hye.
It was the country’s worst-ever maritime tragedy, and emotional parents of victims – mostly schoolchildren – urged people to pray for a successful recovery.
The vessel was lying more than 40 metres below the waves off south-western South Korea and the operation, originally scheduled for last year, had been pushed back several times because of adverse weather.
It is thought that nine bodies still unaccounted for may be trapped inside the sunken ship, and raising the ferry intact has been a key demand of the victims’ families.
“I am a mother who just really misses her daughter. Please pray for us so we can go home with Eun-hwa,” said Lee Keum-hui, one of a handful of relatives who have been living in makeshift homes at Paengmok, the closest port to the wreck, since the accident.
“We will be grateful if you pray with us so that the last remaining victims can return to their families,” she said, breaking down.
Other bereaved family members have been maintaining a vigil at a camp on a hilltop on Donggeochado, the nearest island to the site, just 1.5 kilometres away.
Yellow ribbons – a symbol for the victims of the deadly disaster – hang on nearby trees, their colour faded through time.
In a tense atmosphere, one victim’s father nervously watched through binoculars, trying to catch a glimpse of the operation.
“We will not clear the camp even when the Sewol is raised,” he said, declining to be named. “You never know what you will find beneath the sunken ferry.”
Some 50 bereaved family members were watching the proceedings out at sea, he added.
Two enormous barges were positioned on either side of the 6,825-tonne ship and air bags inserted for the salvage effort, led by a Chinese consortium.
Beams were installed by digging through the seabed underneath the wreck, which was lying on its side, and cables attached to bring it towards the surface.
Once two-thirds of it is exposed, a semi-submersible will be positioned underneath to raise it out of the water and transport it to the port of Mokpo to carry out investigations and search for the missing.
The operation is expected to take three days.
The disaster and its aftermath gripped South Korea and overshadowed the presidency of Ms Park, who stayed at her residence for seven hours in the crucial initial phase of the sinking.
She has never specified what she was doing, sparking wild rumours about her.
Investigations into the disaster, which killed 304 people, concluded it was largely man-made – the cumulative result of an illegal redesign, an overloaded cargo bay, inexperienced crew and a questionable relationship between the ship operators and state regulators.
Even though the vessel took around three hours to sink, those on board were never ordered to evacuate, while the crew escaped to safety.
Captain Lee Jun-seok was sentenced to life in prison for “murder through wilful negligence” and 14 other crew members given terms ranging from two to 12 years.
* Agence France-Presse
