New body found after South Korean ferry disaster

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SEOUL, South Korea - An additional victim from the doomed South Korea ferry was retrieved Thursday from the water, raising the death toll to 289, officials said.

It was the first body recovered since May 21. Heavy objects like desks and cabinets have made it difficult for divers to navigate through unsearched parts of the ferry that sank on April 16. They have been cutting open parts of the ship exterior to make searches easier to locate 15 other people still missing from the disaster.

The new body was found floating about 40 kilometers (25 miles) away from where the ship sank off the south coast, a government task force said in a statement. It said fingerprint scans identified the body as one of passengers from the ferry.

The victim, whose surname was Cho, was travelling with his family to the southern island of Jeju. His wife and an 11-year-old son have already been found dead while his 7-year-old son was rescued, according to the task force. Officials said Cho was born in 1970, making him either 43 or 44.

Most of the ferry victims were students from a single high school near Seoul, who were on a school trip to the resort island.