First bodies pulled from submerged Korean ferry

Fire Department members carrying the body of a passenger of the sunken Sewol ferry in Jindo, South Korea. - EPA

JINDO , South Korea, April 20, 2014 (AFP) - Divers retrieved more than a dozen bodies Sunday from the submerged South Korean ferry that capsized four days ago with hundreds of children on board, opening a grim new chapter in the search and recovery process.

Three bodies - the first to be retrieved from the ship's interior - were pulled out just before midnight and another 10 were recovered later Sunday morning, a coastguard spokesman said.