(Lee Jin-wook/Yonhap via AP)

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — A 6,800-ton South Korean ferry emerged from the water on Thursday, nearly three years after it capsized and sank into violent seas off the country's southwestern coast, an emotional moment for the country that continues to search for closure to one of its deadliest disasters ever. More than 300 people — most of whom were students on a high school trip — died when the Sewol sank on April 16, 2014, touching off an outpouring of national grief and soul searching about long-ignored public safety and regulatory failures. Image copyright Reuters/Korea Coast Guard Image caption Former President Park Geun-hye came under intense pressure over the sinking at the time

Anger over the response of the authorities after the disaster contributed to the unpopularity of former President Park Geun-hye, who was recently ousted. Workers on two barges began the salvaging operation Wednesday night, rolling up 66 cables connected to a frame of metal beams divers spent months putting beneath the ferry, which had been lying on its left side in about 44 meters (144 feet) of water. The Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries said Thursday that the top of the ferry was 8.5 meters (27 feet) above the water's surface at 5 p.m.

Workers are planning to raise the Sewol until its upper side is about 13 meters (42 feet) above the surface. Lee Cheoljo, an official from the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries, said that workers have temporarily stopped raising the 6,800-ton Sewol after it began rubbing against pulleys and other equipment on the two barges that are raising it with cables. Salvage crews had planned to raise the Sewol until its upper side is about 13 meters (42 feet) above the water’s surface by Thursday evening so it could be loaded onto a semi-submersible, heavy-lift vessel that would carry it to a mainland port. The sinking of the Sewol, with 476 passengers on board, during a routine journey from Incheon to the holiday resort of Jeju Island, April 16, 2014, triggered national outrage over the deadly accident that was later determined to be caused in part by greed, incompetence and negligence. Relatives, some of whom who are watching from two fishing boats just outside the operation area, are hoping that those remains will be found inside the ferry. An investigation committee will also be formed to search for clues that could further explain the cause of the sinking, which has been blamed on overloaded cargo, improper storage and other negligence. , the head of a group representing the families of the Sewol victims, released a statement Thursday urging the government to “work on recovery of the missing victims first.”

The group also wants more government transparency and participation by opposition parties and victim’s families in the investigation process.
The South Korean government raises the wreckage of the MV Sewol from the sea near the South Korean island of Donggeochado. The ferry sank in April 2014, killing 304 people.