- A whiteboard carries descriptions of bodies recovered from the ferry
- One student had a pimple and wore braces; a girl had a flower-shaped belly ring
- A high school has lost most of its junior class in the sinking of the Sewol
- Signs of mourning are everywhere in the neighborhood near the school
Jindo, South Korea (CNN) -- Jin Woo-hyuk had a pimple on his forehead. He was skinny and wore braces.
When divers found the teenager's body in the submerged ship, he was wearing a pair of jeans and a light green hoodie.
The simple, human details about Woo-hyuk are noted on a whiteboard, which catalogues descriptions of the bodies recovered from the sunken ferry Sewol.
Some of the victims, still unidentified, are known just by a number.
Malaysian PM responds to search criticism 
Salvaging the South Korean ferry 
Ferry's cargo, renovation being probed 
A diver jumps into the sea near the sunken Sewol ferry near Jindo, South Korea, on Friday, April 25. More than 100 people have died and many more are missing after the ferry sank Wednesday, April 16, as it headed to the resort island of Jeju from the port of Incheon. 
A relative of a passenger aboard the sunken ferry weeps while waiting for news of his missing loved one at a port in Jindo on April 25. 
People attend a memorial for the victims of the Sewol at the Olympic Memorial Hall in Ansan, South Korea, on Thursday, April 24. 
Yellow ribbons honoring the missing and dead flap in the wind as a hearse carrying the body of a victim leaves Danwon High School in Ansan on April 24. 
People attend a memorial for the victims at Olympic Memorial Hall in Ansan. 
Search personnel dive into the sea on Wednesday, April 23. 
Flares light up the search area on Tuesday, April 22. 
The sun sets over the site of the sunken ferry off the coast of the South Korean island of Jindo on April 22. 
A relative of a passenger aboard the ferry prays as she waits for news in Jindo on April 22. 
The search for victims continues in the waters of the Yellow Sea on April 22. 
Rescue workers carry the body of a passenger on Monday, April 21, in Jindo. 
Divers jump into the water on April 21 to search for passengers near the buoys which mark the site of the sunken ferry. 
A relative of a passenger looks at the lists of the dead in Jindo on April 21. 
Search operations continue as flares illuminate the scene near Jindo on Sunday, April 20. 
Relatives of missing passengers from the Sewol ferry grieve on April 20 in Jindo. 
Relatives of passengers look out at the sea from Jindo on April 20. 
A relative of a missing passenger struggles with a policeman as he tries to march toward the presidential house in Jindo on April 20 to protest the government's rescue operation. 
Police officers stand guard Saturday, April 19, at the port in Jindo to prevent relatives of the ferry's missing passengers from jumping in the water. Some relatives have said they will swim to the shipwreck site and find their missing family members by themselves. 
Family members of missing passengers hug as they await news of their missing relatives at Jindo Gymnasium in the southwestern province of South Jeolla, South Korea, on April 19. 
South Korean Navy Ship Salvage Unit members prepare to salvage the sunken ferry and search for missing people on April 19. 
Oil from the sunken ferry appears near the wreckage site on April 19. 
Lee Joon Suk, the captain of the sunken ferry Sewol, is escorted to the court that issued his arrest warrant Friday, April 18, in Mokpo, South Korea. It is not yet known what caused Wednesday's deadly accident. 
Offshore cranes wait near buoys that mark the location of the sunken ferry near Jindo, South Korea, on April 18. 
A U.S. helicopter takes off from the flight deck of the USS Bonhomme Richard during search-and-rescue operations on April 18. 
A woman cries as she waits for news on missing passengers April 18 in Jindo. 
A searchlight illuminates the capsized ferry on Thursday, April 17. 
The ship's captain, Lee Joon Suk, arrives at the Mokpo Police Station in Mokpo on April 17. His head and face covered, he broke down in tears when reporters asked whether he had anything to say. 
A woman cries during a candlelight vigil at Danwon High School in Ansan, South Korea, on April 17. Most of the people on board the ferry were high school students on their way to the resort island of Jeju. 
Rescue personnel dive April 17 during search operations. 
Family members of passengers aboard the sunken ferry gather at a gymnasium in Jindo on April 17. 
The body of a victim is moved at a hospital in Mokpo on April 17. 
Relatives of a passenger cry at a port in Jindo on April 17 as they wait for news on the rescue operation. 
South Korean coast guard members and rescue teams search for passengers at the site of the sunken ferry on April 17. 
A relative of a passenger cries as she waits for news on Wednesday, April 16. 
Rescue teams and fishing boats try to rescue passengers on April 16. 
Relatives check a list of survivors April 16 in Jindo. 
Relatives of missing ferry passengers wait for news at a gym in Jindo. 
Rescue crews attempt to save passengers from the ferry on April 16. 
A South Korean coast guard helicopter lifts passengers off the vessel on April 16. 
Police and rescue teams carry a passenger at the port in Jindo on April 16. 
A relative waits for a missing loved one at the port in Jindo. 
Parents at Danwon High School search for names of their children among the list of survivors. Ansan is a suburb of Seoul, the South Korean capital. 
Helicopters hover over the ferry as rescue operations continue April 16. 
A man in Seoul watches a news broadcast about the sinking vessel. 
Officials escort rescued passengers April 16 in Jindo. 
A passenger is helped onto a rescue boat on April 16. 
A passenger is rescued from the sinking ship on April 16. Photos: South Korean ship sinks No. 63 was a female student with a flower-shaped belly ring and Adidas sweatpants.
No. 62, another girl, had a long pony tail and wore black rosary beads.
They were among the 325 students from a South Korean high school on board the ferry that sank April 16, making up two thirds of the passengers of the ship.
Only 75 of the students were rescued. The remaining 250 are dead or missing.
'Big brother, you have to live'
The students attended Danwon High School in Ansan, a city about an hour's drive south from the capital, Seoul.
The school has lost the majority of its junior year, as well as a dozen teachers. Signs of mourning are everywhere in the surrounding neighborhood.
Yellow ribbons are tied to the school gate, symbolizing hope and solidarity with the dead and missing students' families.
A shrine of flowers and hundreds of notes to the dead decorate the school's entrance.
"Big brother, you have to live, you have to come back," read one note.
"I want to see you," another read. "I love you and pray for you."
Many of the messages from other students expressed regret at not being able to help their classmates on the ferry that was traveling from the port city of Incheon to Jeju, a southern resort island, when it began to list and then capsized.
'It all hurts too much'
Funerals of students have been taking place in recent days. Before the ceremonies, the hearses have driven into the school grounds for one last visit, a portrait of the dead teenager carried by a person in the passenger seat.
School hit by ferry tragedy reopens 
See where passenger families wait 
Man behind the South Korea ferry The trauma of the ferry disaster has affected local residents.
"I feel my heart is being ripped up," said Ryu Chang-ryul, who has lived near the school for nine years. "For three days I haven't eaten. It all hurts too much."
Kim Young-sook runs a small restaurant near the school. She dressed in black and wept as she spoke with CNN, explaining that students are regular customers.
She played a video of a 17-year-old boy she said was like a son to her.
"He used to call me auntie," she said. "He was sitting here playing guitar talking about just how important this trip was to him. I feel so bad that I could not be there. All of us, we could have done something."
Students return to school
A makeshift memorial has been set up in a nearby basketball gymnasium, where hundreds of people file past a wall of flowers in which dozens of photos of dead and missing students are mounted. As well as local visitors, people have driven down from other cities like Seoul to pay their respects.
The school reopened Thursday, but only for students in the final year. About 100 psychiatrists and support staff from across South Korea were on hand to counsel them. Some of the teenagers arrived in hoods or wore caps to cover their faces as they made their way past journalists.
Mental health care professionals will be available to the students for at least two months, said Dr. Kim Hyun-sook, head of the community mental health program in the region.
"Koreans, when they experience trauma, they feel anger and sadness but they tend to bottle it up," he said. "We're trying to encourage emotional communication to let those feelings out."
A mother's pain
The parents of the dead and missing, meanwhile, cling to photos and videos of their lost loved ones.
Christine Kim taught English to some of the students. Her youngest daughter, Billy, was on board the ferry.
A video on Kim's cell phone shows Billy hula-hooping while wearing a dalmation costume -- a fun-loving teenager.
Billy got her boyish name because she loved goats when she was little, her mother said.
Last week, Kim looked out to sea from Jindo and called for her daughter.
"It's mom!" she cried out at the waves. "It's mom!"
EXCLUSIVE: Malaysia to release MH370 report, Prime Minister tells CNN
READ: Families angrily confront officials over South Korea ferry search
READ: Meet the reclusive millionaire behind embattled South Korean ferry company
CNN's Jethro Mullen reported and wrote from Hong Kong, and CNN's Judy Kwon reported from Jindo. CNN's Ashley Fantz, Kyung Lah, Andrew Stevens, Steven Jiang and Frances Cha contributed to this report.
No comments:
Post a Comment