Divers reached a sunken South Korean warship yesterday, but heard no sounds of life from within the hull, dimming hopes that some of the 46 missing crewmen may have survived.
“Our navy divers knocked on the stern with hammers in the afternoon, but so far there is no response from the inside,” South Korean Defense Ministry spokesman Won Tae-jae said.
A mystery explosion tore the 1,200-tonne corvette in half in the Yellow Sea on Friday night near the tense disputed border with North Korea, in one of the country’s worst sea disasters.
PHOTO: REUTERS
Seoul officials said there was no evidence so far Pyongyang attacked the Cheonan. South Korean Defense Minister Kim Tae-young said a drifting North Korean mine dating back to the 1950 to 1953 war might have caused the blast.
High waves, poor visibility and strong currents thwarted efforts over the weekend to dive on the separate sections of the 88m ship.
Divers reached both sections yesterday and knocked on the hull, but defense officials said no answering sounds were heard.
Rescuers said most of the missing crew members would have been in the stern section. There had been speculation some may have survived in air pockets in watertight compartments.
A total of 58 crewmen were saved soon after the ship went down in near-freezing waters off Baengnyeong island near the disputed border, scene of deadly naval clashes in 1999 and 2002 and of a firefight last November. No one has been rescued since then despite a major air and sea search.
Fourteen navy craft and six coastguard ships backed up by aircraft were involved yesterday, plus a 3,200-tonne US salvage ship with 15 divers.
Anguished family members, some weeping, demanded a faster rescue operation during a briefing at a navy command in Pyeongtaek south of Seoul.
“We are running out of time,” a despairing woman in her 40s said.
Another woman collapsed during the briefing and was taken to hospital. There was a brief scuffle when soldiers stopped angry relatives from breaking into an office.
Since the sinking, South Korean President Lee Myung-bak has called four emergency security meetings, but cautioned against jumping to conclusions about the cause.
“Do not give up hope that there could be survivors,” he told searchers earlier yesterday in a statement. “Look into the causes of the incident thoroughly and leave no single piece of doubt behind.”
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