Wrenching Ferry Find: Boy, Girl Bound By Life Vests

As the slow recovery of bodies from the sunken ferry in South Korea continues, Reuters has this sad dispatch: A diver searching the vessel came across the bodies of a boy and girl who had tied their life vests together. "I started to cry thinking that they didn't want to leave each other," he said afterward. But he had to finally separate them because he couldn't bring both bodies to the surface at the same. The confirmed death toll this morning stood at 171, meaning about 130 bodies remain in the ferry.

When they are finally brought to the surface, the laborious process of trying to identify them begins with descriptions written on whiteboards, the New York Times explains. Relatives in makeshift tent cities check the boards regularly. One example:

• No. 63: “160 cm; black slightly wavy straight hair 15 cm; left hand Buddhist beads (white; flower decoration in the shape of ring on each unit); pearl piercing inside right ear; gold tooth, one each on the right and the left side on the top set of teeth.”

Elsewhere in South Korea, the tragedy has meant canceled concerts and TV shows, and even the removal of cheerleaders at baseball games, reports the AP. "It's not the right time to sell joy and laughter," said popular lifestyle magazine Maxim Korea in announcing that it was skipping its May issue. (More South Korea stories.)