Search for Ferry Disaster Victims Picks Up Speed

The search for the missing victims of the April 16 ferry disaster picked up speed late last week after divers managed to remove obstructions and debris from the corridors and cabins of the sunken vessel.

Ko Myung-seok, a spokesman for the search team, said Monday, "Until now, the focus has been on searching through as many cabins as possible so we left obstructions and debris untouched. But we failed to recover any bodies for more than two weeks, so we started to search through the cabins again after throwing obstructions and debris out of the windows."

Rescue workers cut open a portion of the fourth floor of the ferry last Friday and began removing obstructions with a crane. One body was discovered last Friday, and two more -- a teacher and a schoolboy from Danwon High School in Ansan -- on Sunday.

Now 12 passengers remain missing.