Rescue teams prepare to dive next to the buoys marking where the ferry sank [AP]Relatives of the 300 dead or missing clashed with police as they marched on the Seoul government to demand the salvage operation be stepped up.
The conflict came as distress call transcripts revealed how the tilting of the stricken Sewol threw victims together so tightly they could not move. Released by the coastguard yesterday, they detail exchanges between the ferry crew and shipping traffic services on Jindo, a Korean island near the accident scene.
Asked the “status of the sinking”, a Sewol crew member says: “It’s tilted more than 50 degrees to the left and it’s impossible for people to move either left or right. The crew members are gathered on the bridge and cannot move. Please come quickly.”
It’s tilted more than 50 degrees to the left and it’s impossible for people to move either left or right. The crew members are gathered on the bridge and cannot move. Please come quickly
In a later exchange a crew member asks: “If this ferry evacuates passengers, will they be rescued right away?”
The controller replies: “At least make them wear life rings and make them escape!
“The captain should make your own decision and evacuate them.”
By yesterday, the confirmed death toll had reached 58 after divers managed to get inside the wreck. While 174 passengers were rescued after Wednesday’s sinking, 244 are still missing. The 476 people onboard included 339 pupils aged 16 or 17, and teachers from a school in Seoul. And it emerged the ferry may have turned sharply before listing and capsizing.
Some of the bereaved chanted “the government is the killer” as they tried to march from the makeshift refuge centre on Jindo to the mainland.
They crowded around prime minister Chung Hong-won’s car then began a procession to the president’s home in Seoul, 250 miles away.
However, the 100 grieving marchers were blocked by 200 police officers.
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