2 More Bodies Found on Ship

Navy divers have recovered the bodies of six Japanese men and students killed when their fishing ship was struck by a U.S. submarine, and officials plan to begin taking the victims’ relatives to the site.

Divers found two bodies aboard the sunken vessel on Friday. The medical examiner’s staff also identified three other bodies retrieved earlier this week. One was Hiroshi Nishida, 49, the first engineer of the Ehime Maru, Dr. Kanthi von Guenthner, chief medical examiner for Honolulu said Saturday.

The others, identified Friday, were the Ehime Maru’s chief engineer, Toshimichi Furuya, 47, and Toshiya Sakashima, 17. Sakashima attended Uwajima Fisheries High School with the other students on board. A sixth body has yet to be identified.

Their ship was struck by the U.S. submarine Greeneville on Feb. 9 as the sub was conducting an emergency surfacing drill. Twenty-six people on board the ship were rescued; four other teenage boys and five men were never found and were believed to have drowned.

Since Monday, divers also have recovered the bodies of student Katsuya Nomoto, 17, and chief radio operator Hirotaka Segawa, 60.

The medical examiner said the cause of death in each case was drowning. The two newly discovered bodies were brought to the surface and turned over to the medical examiner for identification, the Navy said.

Family members of four of the dead have arrived in Honolulu, with the rest expected soon, said Lt. Cmdr. Neil Sheehan, the liaison to the families.

Officials have said they don’t expect to find more than seven bodies inside the ship. It sank in 2,000-foot-deep water about 15 miles offshore and was towed to more shallow water near Honolulu so divers could recover the bodies.