One more body recovered from sunken South Korean ferry

Seoul, June 24 (IANS) One more body was recovered from the sunken South Korean ferry Tuesday, taking the toll to 293, the pan-government response centre said in a statement.

This is the first retrieval in 16 days.

The body, believed to be of a female high school student, was retrieved from the submerged vessel around 1 a.m., Xinhua reported citing the statement.

On the 69th day into the search, 293 people have been confirmed dead, leaving 11 others still missing. No survivor has been reported since 172 people were saved from the ship and sea on the day the vessel sank.

The ferry Sewol sank off the southwestern coast April 16. Among 476 passengers on board, two-thirds were high school students.

There has been no retrieval of any body since June 8 when one male body from Danwon High School was recovered from the ship.

Coast guard, military and volunteer divers have had difficulties in search operations inside the sunken ship, as some parts of which were blocked by floating objects.