South Korean rescue team members work to rescue passengers believed to have been trapped in the sunken ferry Sewol near the buoys which were installed to mark the vessel in the water off the southern coast near Jindo, South Korea, Monday, April 21, 2014. AP FILE PHOTO
SEOUL — The body of a victim of South Korea’s ferry disaster has been found miles away from the sunken vessel, rescuers said Thursday, fuelling fears that some of the deceased may never be found.
Since the 6,825-ton Sewol ferry sank off the southwest coast on April 16, 289 bodies have now been recovered, leaving 15 unaccounted for.
The ship was carrying a total of 476 people — mostly high school students on a school trip.
Even though no bodies have been recovered from the interior over the past two weeks, divers have continued searching the submerged vessel in extremely hazardous conditions.
Two divers have been killed so far — the latest just last week.
The body found Thursday by a local fisherman was floating at sea 40 kilometers (25 miles) northwest of the sunken ship, the maritime ministry said.
Fingerprint tests confirmed the person was one of the missing passengers.
The recovery will underscore warnings that other bodies may have been washed far from the rescue site by the strong currents — and that some may never be recovered.