Civilian diver dies searching for missing from South Korean ferry disaster
SEOUL, South Korea - A civilian diver involved in searches for dozens of missing people from a South Korean ferry disaster died Tuesday, as other divers helped by better weather and easing ocean currents were picking up efforts to retrieve bodies from the sunken ship.
The Sewol carried 476 people, most of them students from a single high school, when it sank off South Korea's southern coast on April 16. Only 174 survived, including 22 of the 29 crew members. The sinking left 260 people dead, with about 40 others still missing.
In searching for the missing, divers have been working their way into the last three unopened rooms, next to a snack bar on the ferry's third floor, Ko told reporters.
Investigators have separately made their first formal arrests of people who were not on board the Sewol when it sank. The three people arrested are suspected of negligence in their handling of cargo on the vessel.
In all, 19 people have been arrested in the investigation, 15 of them crew members accused of abandoning passengers. An executive with ties to Chonghaejin, the company that owns the ferry, was arrested on suspicion of malpractice related to company finances.