First bodies retrieved from inside ferry, 36 confirmed dead

Bodies were retrieved for the first time from a sunken South Korean ferry late Saturday night, the emergency management headquarters said Sunday.

Divers retrieved three bodies from inside the hull of the submerged ship at 11:48 pm local time on Saturday, the first such recovery nearly four days after the ferry capsized off Jindo Island on Wednesday morning.

The 6,825-ton ship Sewol departed the western port of Incheon Tuesday night for the southern resort island of Jeju. Among the 476 passengers and crew were 325 high school students and 15 teachers on a field trip.

The divers broke a window glass to enter the passenger compartment, pulling the male passengers' bodies out of the submerged ship.

The retrieval of the three more bodies raised the total death toll to 36, with 266 still missing. The number of the rescued remained unchanged at 174.

Four bodies were discovered Saturday evening in waters near the site of the accident.

Coast guard, navy and private divers strived against rapid currents to get into the hull of the ship, and found three bodies on the fourth floor of the five-story vessel for the first time on Saturday morning.

The third and fourth floors are comprised of passenger cabins, where most of possible survivors may be trapped. Divers succeeded in getting inside the hull on Friday.