S.Korea hunts for 46 missing after warship blast

Family members of missing sailors of the sunken South Korean naval ship Cheonan cry as they arrive in front of a naval base in Pyeongtaek, South Korea yesterday. Military divers have searched in vain for the 46 marines missing since the South Korean ship exploded and sank near the tense maritime border with North Korea. Associated Press Ships and aircraft searched yesterday for 46 sailors missing after a mystery explosion tore a South Korean warship apart, as tearful relatives urged the military to work faster."My son, where are you in that cold water?" wept a woman carrying a framed photo of him as she waited for news at a navy base south of Seoul. In one of the country's worst naval disasters, the 1,200-ton corvette Cheonan with 104 crew on board sank late Friday in the Yellow Sea near the tense disputed border with North Korea. Seoul officials have not so far suggested Pyongyang was involved. Only 58 sailors have so far been rescued after the blast ripped the ship in half off Baengnyeong island. Hopes for the remainder were fading fast, with water temperatures only a few degrees above freezing. President Lee Myung-Bak urged rescuers not to abandon hope. "Utmost efforts must be exerted in carrying out the rescue mission in the belief that missing crew members could still be alive," he told a security meeting yesterday, according to spokesman Park Sun-Kyoo. Lee also ordered a thorough probe with all possibilities taken into account, warning against "jumping to conclusions" prematurely. defense ministry spokesman Won Tae-Jae told a briefing it would take "a significant time to reach a reliable conclusion" about the cause of the blast. But angry and tearful families protested at what they called a lack of information and slow progress in locating the missing. Choppy seas, strong currents and poor visibility foiled two attempts yesterday by military divers to access the sunken hull. "Just fetch any divers, not just military ones but also civilian ones, to rescue them," said one woman at the naval base at Pyeongtaek south of Seoul whose husband is among the missing A naval boat left Pyeongtaek to take 88 family members to the scene of the tragedy off Baengnyeong island. On Saturday some distraught family members had called the Cheonan's captain a "liar" after he gave briefings on the blast at the navy base. A salvage ship and two mine-detecting boats were at the scene yesterday. A U.S. military salvage ship is set to join the rescue effort today, Seoul's defense ministry said. The military has said many of the missing sailors may be trapped inside the submerged hull. The 88m (290ft) craft was said to carry missiles, torpedoes and other weaponry and munitions.