1. Skip to content
  2. Skip to main menu
  3. Skip to more DW sites
Live TV
Latest audioLatest videos
In focus
German coalition collapseMiddle EastUS election

South Korea ends search for bodies after Sewol ferry disaster

November 11, 2014

Seoul has announced it will stop searching for the bodies still missing after the Sewol ferry sank in April. The ferry's captain and crew await a court verdict for the incident that claimed over 300 lives.

https://p.dw.com/p/1Dl1u
Portraits of students who died in the mid-April Sewol ferry disaster, decorated by yellow ribbons dedicated to the victims, are pictured in central Seoul October 27, 2014
Portraits of students who died in the Sewol ferry disaster have been on display in SeoulImage: Reuters/Kim Hong-Ji

Officials in South Korea announced the search would end on Tuesday for the remains of fatalities in April's Sewol ferry disaster.

The announcement came hours before a court verdict was due on crew members charged with homicide and willful negligence - abandonment of passengers - during the disaster. Prosecutors seek the death penalty for Sewol captain Lee Joon-Seok and life sentences for three other senior crew members.

The bodies of 295 people have been salvaged, but today, nearly seven months after the accident, nine are still missing.

Südkorea Gerichtsprozess Kapitän der Fähre 27.10.2014
The ferry's captain was indicted in May and could face the death penaltyImage: picture-alliance/AP Photo/Yonhap, Park Chul-hong

Oceans and Fisheries Minister Lee Ju-young told reporters there was only a remote chance of finding those bodies.

"The government deployed as many resources as possible ... to bring the last missing person to the families," Lee said. "But the situation in the ship has become too difficult for search operations to continue."

On April 16, the Sewol ferry capsized while en route from the South Korean mainland to the holiday island of Jeju. Of the 476 people on board, 325 were high school students. Only 75 of the students survived.

sb/lw (AP, AFP)

Skip next section Explore more

Explore more

Sewol Südkorea Unglück Fährunglück

South Korean student survivors recall horror of ferry disaster

South Korean student survivors recall horror of ferry disaster

Students who survived a sinking South Korean ferry earlier this year have told a criminal trial that they were left to fend for themselves inside as the crew floated to safety. Around 300 people died in the disaster. (28.07.2014)
July 28, 2014
Family members holding the portraits of the victims of the sunken ferry Sewol, sit on a street near the presidential Blue House in Seoul, South Korea, Friday, May 9, 2014. Family members marched to the presidential Blue House in Seoul early Friday calling for a meeting with President Park Geun-hye but ended up sitting on streets near the presidential palace after police officers blocked them. Park's office said a senior presidential official plans to meet them later Friday. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)Südkorea Fährunglück Familienangehörige 09.05.2014 Seoul

Sewol families: 'The fundamental fault lies with the government'

Sewol families: 'The fundamental fault lies with the government'

The community of Ansan has forever been changed by the loss of 250 students in a ferry disaster. Kwon Oh-hyun, spokesperson of the victims' families tells DW there is an overall lack of safety standards in South Korea. (02.07.2014)
July 2, 2014
Südkorea Fährunglück 16.04.2014

South Korean police find body of billionaire sought over ferry disaster

South Korean police find body of billionaire sought over ferry disaster

South Korean police say they have found the corpse of the billionaire businessman sought in connection with a deadly ferry accident. In April, at least 294 people died when the ferry capsized off South Korea's coast. (22.07.2014)
July 22, 2014