S/Korea ferry disaster: Families angry over rescue

Families of passengers on a sunken South Korean ferry have protested angrily over the rescue operation.

Police stopped up to 100 people trying to leave Jindo island intending to march to the country’s capital, Seoul.

After more than three days, divers have now finally entered the ferry, retrieving 26 bodies and bringing the death toll to 58.

However, another 244 people are still missing from the Sewol ferry, which sank on Wednesday. Some 174 passengers were rescued.

Since the capsize many of the relatives of those on board have been on Jindo, in the south-west of the country.

Hundreds have been camping at a gymnasium on the island, awaiting news from the rescue operation.

Scuffles broke out when some family members tried to cross a bridge to the mainland, reportedly to march on the Presidential Blue House in Seoul, some 420km (260 miles) to the north.

“Bring me the body so that I can see the face and hug my child,” shouted one woman.

Lee Woon-geun, father of missing passenger Lee Jung-in, 17, said: “We want an answer from the person in charge about why orders are not going through and nothing is being done. They are clearly lying and kicking the responsibility to others.”

Relatives are anxious for the bodies to be retrieved before they decompose.

The BBC in Jindo says even the prime minister came down to try to dissuade the protesters from marching on Seoul, with officials worried that the controversy could turn into a national political issue and harm the government.