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MOKPO, South Korea (AP) — Searchers have now put markers on the surface of the water where the South Korean ferry went down. Part of the ship had remained above the surface until today, but now the entire vessel is submerged.
They're continuing the effort to find some 270 people who are missing and feared dead. Twenty-eight others are confirmed dead.
South Korea's Defense Ministry says divers have attached underwater air bags to the 6,800-ton ferry to keep it from sinking further.
Strong currents and rain have again made the search effort more difficult today. Divers worked in shifts to try to get into the sunken vessel.
Three other ships with cranes have arrived at the site to prepare to salvage the ferry. But a coast guard officer says they won't lift the ship before getting approval from family members of those who are believed trapped inside -- because doing so could endanger any possible survivors.
%@AP Links
127-c-12-(Hyung-jin Kim (hyuhng-jihn kihm), AP correspondent)-"and bad weather"-AP correspondent Hyung-jin Kim reports rescuers are still giving it their all in an effort to find survivors. (18 Apr 2014)
<<CUT *127 (04/18/14)££ 00:12 "and bad weather"
126-c-21-(Hyung-jin Kim (hyuhng-jihn kihm), AP correspondent)-"have to evacuate"-AP correspondent Hyung-jin Kim reports on word that a delayed call to abandon the ship may have proven fatal for those who didn't make it off the vessel before it sank. (18 Apr 2014)
<<CUT *126 (04/18/14)££ 00:21 "have to evacuate"
APPHOTO SEL819: South Korean Navy officials work on buoys to mark the sunken passenger ferry The Sewol in the water off the southern coast near Jindo, South Korea, Friday, April 18, 2014. The investigation into South Korea's ferry disaster focused on the sharp turn it took just before it began listing and on the possibility that a quicker evacuation order by the captain could have saved lives, officials said Friday, as rescuers struggled to find some 270 people still missing and feared dead. (AP Photo/Yonhap) KOREA OUT (18 Apr 2014)
<<APPHOTO SEL819 (04/18/14)££
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