Bone found on seabed confirmed to be from Sewol victim

The Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries said Wednesday that a human bone discovered underwater in early May was identified to be from Danwon High School teacher Go Chang-suk, one of the nine passengers missing from the 2014 Sewol ferry sinking.

“We received the DNA test result (from the National Forensic Service) this afternoon, earlier than expected,” said Lee Cheol-jo, a ministry official in charge of the search operation.

The 35-centimeter shinbone was found during an underwater search of the wreckage site near Jindo, South Jeolla Province, where the passenger ship sank on April 16 2014. It marked the first major discovery since operators began examining the ship in April this year.

More bone fragments, believed to be from humans, have been found since the search of the ship’s interior began. The ministry said it is awaiting DNA results of four bones.

Authorities added that they had recovered an additional 11 human bone fragments from mud collected from the third deck Wednesday morning.

By Kim Da-sol (ddd@heraldcorp.com)