S. Korea to raise sunken vessel

SEOUL - South Korea prepared on Sunday to raise the Sewol ferry that sank nearly three years ago, killing more than 300 people, most of them children, testing a system to bring the ship to the surface in the hope of finding the last nine bodies.

The Sewol, which was structurally unsound, overloaded and traveling too fast on a turn, capsized and sank during a routine voyage on April 16, 2014. It lies at a depth of 44 metres, off the southwestern island of Jindo.

Of those killed, 250 were teenagers on a school trip, many of whom obeyed crew instructions to remain in their cabins even as crew members were escaping the sinking vessel.