Death toll surges to 104 in S.Korean ferry sinking accident

Coast guard, navy and private divers began conducting underwater search operations from around 6:30 a.m. local time when tidal currents became slower.

On Tuesday morning, 17 more bodies were found, leaving 104 people dead and 198 still missing. The number of the rescued remained unchanged at 174, Xinhua reports.

Divers conducted an intensive search operation into passenger cabins and convenience facilities on the third and fourth floors of the five-story vessel where bodies and possible survivors are believed to be trapped, Koh Myung-seok, director general of equipment and technology bureau at the South Korean coast guard, told a press briefing.

Koh, who represents the pan-government response center, said that many bodies were found in the third-floor lounge and the fourth-floor cabins on the stern side where students were staying when the ship began to capsize.