“歲月號”沉船打撈出遺體 學生曾試圖逃生

South Korean divers swam though dark, cold waters into a sunken ferry on Wednesday, feeling for children's bodies with their hands in a maze of cabins, corridors and upturned decks as they searched for hundreds of missing.

The divers, with oxygen and communications lines trailing, can only see a few inches in front of them in the wreckage of the ship that started sinking a week ago after a sharp turn. Most of the victims were high school children, who were told to stay where they were for their own safety and were trapped.

Most of the bodies found in the last two days had broken fingers, presumably from the children frantically trying to climb the walls or floors to escape in their last moments, media said.

"We are trained for hostile environments, but it's hard to be brave when we meet bodies in dark water," diver Hwang Dae-sik told Reuters, as the funerals of 25 students were held near the capital,Seoul.

Prosecutors investigating the disaster raided the home of Yoo Byung-un, the head of a family that owns the Chonghaejin Marine Co. Ltd, the company that operated the Sewol ferry. They also raided his son's home and the office of a church with which Yoo has been associated, said a prosecutor who did not want to be identified.

The finances of Chonghaejin and its complex share structure have come into the spotlight in recent days. Yoo was jailed for fraud for four years in the early 1990s.

But it was not immediately clear how big a development this was. Korean police and prosecutors often make dramatic raids to show that progress is being made in a high-profile case.

Underwater, at the site of the sunken Sewol, divers are able to work for nearly an hour at a time as long as the oxygen lines do not snag on sharp corners of the ship's internal structure. When they use cumbersome oxygen tanks on their backs instead, they can work for about 20 minutes before an alarm bell sounds.

The Sewol sank last Wednesday on a routine trip from the port of Incheon, near Seoul, to the southern island of Jeju.

Of the 476 passengers and crew on board, 339 were children and teachers on a high school outing. Only 174 people have been rescued and the remainder are presumed to have drowned.

The confirmed death toll on Wednesday was 146, many found at the back of the ship on the fourth deck.

Hwang said his team had retrieved 14 bodies so far. "We have to touch everything with our hands. This is the most grueling and heartbreaking job of my career," he said.

Captain Lee Joon-seok, 69, and other crew members have been arrested on negligence charges. Lee was also charged with undertaking an "excessive change of course without slowing down".

LAW REQUIRES CAPTAIN TO STAY ON BOARD

Several crew members, including the captain, left the ferry as it was sinking, witnesses have said, after passengers were told to stay in their cabins, even though it was time for breakfast. President Park Geun-hye said on Monday that instruction was tantamount to an "act of murder".

"The charged crew members appear to have not carried out their duty to rescue the passengers at all," prosecutor Ahn Sang-don told a briefing. "Based on the fact that they were gathered in the bridge, engine room and so on, then left the boat, we believe negligent homicide is applicable."

According to Article 10 of Seafarers' Act, a captain has to remain on board until all passengers have disembarked.

A boy with a shaking voice gave the first distress call to the emergency services when the ferry listed.

Most of those who survived made it out on deck and jumped into rescue boats, but many of the children did not leave their cabins, not questioning their elders as is customary in hierarchical Korean society. They paid for their obedience with their lives.

Lee was not on the bridge when the ship turned. Navigation was in the hands of a 26-year old third mate who was in charge for the first time on that part of the journey, according to crew members.

The wife of one crew member under investigation who did not wish to be identified quoted her husband as saying: "I should have died out there."

"He told me that he was taking some rest as he had finished his shift. He fell from his bed and struggled to open the room door to get out. He said he didn't go to the steering house to meet up with rest of the crew. Rather he was found by coastguards and was rescued.

"My husband didn't get along with other crewmen, but he told me that Captain Lee was someone comfortable and extremely calm. He said Captain Lee was like no other: he didn't drink much, although he did smoke."據路透社4月23日報道，韓國潛水員23日進入漆黑冰冷的海水，在沉船如迷宮般的船艙、走廊和向上的甲板中搜尋上百具失蹤學生的遺體。

潛水員帶着氧氣補給和通訊設備，在能見度只有幾英寸的沉船內展開搜尋，這艘船在一週前因急轉沉沒。大部分遇難者爲高中生，他們被要求原地等待救援，因此困在船中。

媒體報道稱，近兩日發現的大部分的遺體手指斷裂，可能是由於學生在最後時刻發瘋般地試圖爬出船艙。

“我們接受過在惡劣環境作業的訓練，但在漆黑的水中碰到屍體時，很難勇敢起來，”潛水員Hwang Dae-sik對路透社說。與此同時，25位遇難學生的葬禮正在首爾附近舉行。

一位不願透露姓名的檢察人員說，這起事故的調查人員突然進入Chonghaejin船舶管理公司所有者Yoo Byung-un的住宅，這家公司負責運營“歲月號”客輪。檢查人員同時進入其子家中以及與其有關的一所教堂的辦公室。

近日Chonghaejin公司的財務狀況及其複雜的股份結構進入公衆視野。Yoo Byung-un曾在90年代初因詐騙入獄四年。

但是尚不清楚此事進展如何。韓國警察和檢查人員經常通過突襲手段表明備受關注的案件的調查正在進行中。

在“歲月號”沉沒海域，只要氧氣補給設備不被客輪內部的結構戳破，潛水員可工作近一小時。但由於揹着笨重的氧氣瓶，他們工作大約20分鐘，警鈴就會響起。

4月16日，“歲月號”從首爾附近的仁川港出發，前往南部的濟州島，途中沉沒。

“歲月號”上共載有476人，其中有339人來自一所高中的師生。事故發生後，目前只有174人已獲救，其他人或許均已溺亡。

截至4月23日，確認的遇難人數爲146人，其中的多數是在第四層甲板尾部發現的。

Hwang稱，他所在的潛水隊迄今已經找到了14具屍體。“我們只能憑藉雙手去觸摸搜尋，這是我職業生涯中最艱苦、最令人心碎的工作，”他說。

69歲的船長李俊錫（Lee Joon-seok）和其他船員已因玩忽職守被逮捕。李俊錫同時因“不但沒有減速還快速變更了航向”受到指控。

法律要求船長守在船上

目擊者稱，包括船長在內的幾名船員在船下沉時棄船逃生，而他們要求乘客在船艙內原地待命，儘管已到早餐時間。韓國總統朴槿惠21日表示船長的指令無異於“謀殺”。

檢察官Ahn Sang-don在一次通報會上說：“受指控的船員根本沒有履行營救乘客的職責”。“事實上他們集中在駕駛艙、輪機艙和其他地方，之後棄船逃生，我們認爲因玩忽職守殺人的罪名成立”。

《船員法》第10條規定，船長必須在所有乘客都下船後方可離船。

當船體傾斜的時候，一名男孩第一個撥通了緊急救援部門的電話，電話中他聲音十分顫抖。

大多數獲救的人衝到甲板上跳上救生艇，但是由於韓國一直以來聽從長輩的服從文化，很多學生卻留在船艙內，未質疑船長的指令。他們爲此付出了生命的代價。

船員說，船轉彎時船長並不在駕駛艙，船是由一名26歲的三副掌舵，她第一次負責該段航行。

一名不願透露姓名的船員妻子在接受調查時表示，她的丈夫說“我本該死在那裏的”。

“他告訴我說，他在完成他那班崗後正在休息。他從牀上掉下來，掙扎着打開房門逃出船艙。他說他沒有去駕駛室和其他船員匯合，而是被海岸警衛隊員發現並獲救。”

“我丈夫和其他船員關係不好，但是他說李船長性格非常溫和，遇事冷靜。他說李船長和其他人不同，儘管他抽菸，但不酗酒”。