Survivors from a South Korean naval ship that sank after a mysterious explosion publicly recounted their ordeal for the first time yesterday, describing how the deafening blast interrupted a routine patrol near the disputed border with North Korea.
Fifty-eight of the 104 sailors on board the 1,200-tonne Cheonan were rescued soon after the accident. No other survivors have been found, but divers recovered the body of one crewman on Saturday.
No cause for the disaster has been determined. South Korean officials have said they will examine all possibilities, including that the ship might have been hit by a floating mine or a torpedo from North Korea.
“I heard a loud boom and felt my body being instantly lifted up in the air,” Senior Chief Petty Officer Oh Seong-tak told a news conference. “The noise was so loud that my ears hurt.”
Oh, who was in his bunk on the vessel’s lowest level at the time of the blast, said he grabbed at everything around him to feel his way out, and then realized the door was at his feet.
“The vessel tilted at a 90-degree angle immediately after the explosion,” he said.
Sailors said the blast felt like it came from outside the ship, but did not comment on speculation of possible North Korean involvement. The Cheonan sank in the Yellow Sea near the contested western sea border.
All of the sailors who appeared at the news conference, held at a military hospital near Seoul, wore hospital gowns except for the captain, who appeared in uniform. Some wore back braces and some were in wheelchairs or on crutches.
Captain Choi Won-il, who mostly sat with his eyes closed and lips pursed as his men spoke, said he hoped the missing were still alive and was waiting for the day they can return to duty.
“Please understand the situation as it is,” Choi said, wiping away tears with his sleeve. “My men, who I feel are by my side, are deep in my heart.”
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