Afkham on Friday expressed Iran’s condolences to the South Korean nation and extended sympathy for the victims' families.
A total of 26 people, including 12 students, two teachers and three crew members, have been confirmed dead, with 179 people rescued and 271 still missing after a South Korean ferry capsized, media reports said.
The passengers aboard the sunken vessel included 325 high school students and 15 teachers who had been on the way for a four- day field trip. The ship departed from South Korea's western port city of Incheon Tuesday night for the southern resort island of Jeju.
Maritime police and military divers tried 20 times overnight to make their way into the submerged hull, but failed to enter into the body due to rapid currents, low underwater visibility and high waves, the official said.
Three large salvage ships arrived at the scene Friday morning to pull the sunken ship out of the waters. A total of 535 coast guard and navy divers were working at the scene, and 31 airplanes and 173 rescue ships were sent for search operations.
The death toll was expected to rise as hundreds of passengers were still missing nearly two days after the 6,825-ton passenger ship, the Sewol, capsized and sank off Jindo Island, near the southwestern tip of the Korean Peninsula, at around 11:30 a.m. Wednesday. Most of the missing were believed to be trapped inside the sunken vessel.
