The bodies were found late yesterday in the inverted, submerged ship, bringing the confirmed death toll from the April 16 disaster to 275, Coastguard Spokesman Ko Myung-Suk told journalists. Twenty nine are still unaccounted for.
Divers have now swept through most of the ship, which is resting on its side at a depth of more than 40 metres off the country's southern coast.
The divers have also reported that partition walls on the ship have started warping and are at risk of collapsing, which would further complicate their work, a government task force said in a statement.
They face enormous hazards and challenges, including near-zero visibility, strong currents and often treacherous weather conditions.
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The Sewol was carrying 476 people when it sank after listing sharply to one side.
Of those on board, 325 were children from a high school in Ansan City in the southern suburbs of Seoul who were on an organised trip to the southern resort island of Jeju.
Initial investigations suggest the ferry was carrying up to three times its safe cargo capacity.
The head of Chonghaejin, Kim Han-Sik, faces charges of manslaughter through negligence and breaches of vessel safety laws, Yonhap news agency said.
At a public park in Ansan, a focal point of national mourning, some 2,000 students from various high schools in the city held a candlelit vigil yesterday night for the victims, with yellow ribbons tied to their arms.