ANSAN, Gyeonggi Province – As the sunken ferry Sewol began to be seen above the water Thursday, South Koreans flocked to Ansan, Gyeonggi Province, home to hundreds of victims of the maritime disaster on April 16, 2014, to pay their respects.

As the salvage comes right before the third anniversary of the Sewol's sinking, emotions ran high in the city, where many of the memories about the victims still remain intact.

At the joint memorial altar set up in the city, South Koreans left flowers and letters to remember the victims. Some struggled to hold back tears and others vowed not to forget the tragedy and make society safer.

“I hope that the salvage is successfully done and the nine missing people return to their families,” Kim Ka-eul, a 26-year-old university student, told The Korea Herald. “I will never forget their suffering and fight with them for the truth to be revealed until the end.”

More than 300 people died when the ferry sank off the nation’s southwest coast. Most of them were students from Danwon High School in Ansan, who were on a school trip to Jeju Island. Only 172 were rescued, with nine people remaining missing at sea.

The ferry, which had been submerged 40 meters below the sea, was finally brought back to the surface Thursday, seven hours after a Chinese consortium began to lift it late Wednesday. The long-awaited salvage operation was originally scheduled for last year, but it has been pushed back several times due to adverse weather and technical problems.

The mourners prayed in unison for the successful salvage of the recovery of the nine missing bodies while expressing anger at the government's failure to lift the ship for too long.

“I am heartbroken and angry. I cannot believe that the ship was able to be lifted so quickly like this,” Hyun Eun-hee, a 45-year-old teacher living in Ansan, said. “I don’t know whether the government could not salvage the ferry or did not intend to do it.”

The bereaved families gathered at a makeshift meeting room near the joint altar to watch the process of the salvage operation broadcast live on TV. They have demanded the 6,825-ton Sewol ferry be salvaged to find the nine missing bodies as well as the causes behind the disaster.

“It is not the end. It is only the beginning of finding the truth,” Kim Jeong-young, father of a student victim Kun-woo. “It was a very long three years. I am just angry at the government which has constantly hindered our efforts to salvage the ferry and find the causes of the sinking.”

“And it happened just like this right after President Park Geun-hye was removed from office,” Kim lamented. “It should also be revealed what she was doing while so many children were dying under the sea.”

The failure to save more lives during the accident was one of the reasons the National Assembly gave in its impeachment of ex-President Park Geun-hye. The Constitutional Court ruled to oust her, though it did not acknowledge her alleged negligence in her duty to save people's lives during the sinking of the ferry as a reason behind the ruling.

Visitors were also seen paying a tribute at “memory classrooms” at the Ansan Education Office, which were left untouched in memory of 250 students killed in the sinking.

“I cannot put my feelings into words. I just want the victim’s families to know that we, Koreans, will never forget what happened to them,” Kang Pol-joo, office worker, 37. “The truth should finally come out.” 

Danwon High School has preserved the desks and chairs of the two teachers and four students who went missing in the sinking and whose bodies have not been recovered.

The raising of the ferry is a key factor in finding the cause of the deadly accident, experts say. So far, little has been found out about what exactly caused the disaster and why the government failed to save more lives.

An overloaded cargo, illegal redesign of the ferry and a cozy relationship between ship operators and state regulators are loosely thought to be the causes. 

By Ock Hyun-ju (laeticia.ock@heraldcorp.com) and Jung Min-kyung (mkjung@heraldcorp.com)