Salvage workers saw several bodies of missing sailors trapped inside the rear portion of a sunken naval warship, raised above water earlier in the day weeks after the warship sank into waters near the tense maritime border with the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), local media reported Thursday.

Navy soldiers and salvage team members watch as they cover broken section of the stern of sunken naval vessel Cheonan with nets off Baengnyeongdo island near the maritime border with DRPK, northwest of Seoul April 14, 2010.[Xinhua]??

A 2,200-ton offshore crane earlier in the day raised the stern of the vessel, where most of the 44 missing sailors are believed to be trapped inside. Out of 104 crew members onboard the ill- fated 1,200-ton corvette, 58 were rescued alive and two were found dead.

Authorities here have played down a possibility that the DPRK might have been behind the naval disaster, but local media have said that the rough exterior of the stern suggests the mysterious sinking could have been caused be a torpedo attack by the DPRK.

Seoul's Defense Minister Kim Tae-young told parliament Wednesday that the military is considering both military and non- military means to respond to the DPRK's involvement if allegations are confirmed to be true, but later withdrew his remark.Experts from the United States and Australia have arrived here to help determine what caused the mysterious sinking.