Last of ferry crew members arrested as death toll hits 187
Print Edition
ALL surviving crew members of the sunken South Korean ferry were in custody and under arrest yesterday, prosecutors said, as bad weather prevented the recovery of any of the more-than 100 bodies still missing.
Lee Joon-seok, captain of the Sewol, and 10 crew members were arrested earlier on charges ranging from criminal negligence to abandoning passengers.
The remaining four were arrested late yesterday after warrants were issued, prosecutors said.
The confirmed death toll from the tragedy stood at 187 yesterday, with 115 still missing.
Many bodies are believed trapped in the ferry, which capsized on April 16 during a routine voyage to southern Jindo island with 476 people on board.
The ship’s captain has been sharply criticized for delaying the evacuation order until the ferry was listing so badly that escape was almost impossible.
Prosecutors have raided a host of businesses affiliated with the ferry operator, Chonghaejin Marine Co, as part of a wider probe into corrupt management.
The investigation has also seen travel bans put on eight current and former executives of the Korea Register of Shipping — the body responsible for issuing marine safety certificates.
A looming storm and high tides put a temporary halt to operations to recover the remains of those still missing over a week after the disaster.
Despite the difficult conditions, divers made several attempts to get into the ship, but to no avail, officials said.
Making up the bulk of the passengers on the Sewol when it sank were 325 high school students — about 250 of whom have been either confirmed or presumed dead.
Although all hope of finding survivors has been extinguished, there is still anger and deep frustration among relatives of the missing over the pace of the recovery operation.
Frogmen have battled strong currents, poor visibility and blockages caused by floating furniture as they have tried to get inside the upturned vessel, which rests on a silty seabed.
The conditions have meant divers are unable to spend more than a few minutes in the ship each time they go down.
Even so, they are coming across horrifying scenes in the murky water, including one dormitory room packed with the bodies of 48 students wearing life jackets.
About a quarter of the bodies recovered were found in waters outside the sunken vessel, and there are fears that some of the missing may have drifted free from the wreck. That could be exacerbated if the sea is churned by the gathering storm, scattering bodies.
Lost for good
“As efforts to find the missing people are becoming protracted, there are growing concerns among their families that bodies might be lost for good,” a coastguard official said.
Authorities — wary of the palpable anger among relatives — have mobilized trawlers and installed 13-kilometer-long nets across the Maenggol sea channel to prevent the dead being swept into the open ocean.
Dozens of other vessels and helicopters have been scouring the site and beyond.
Police and government workers will be mobilized to search coastal areas and nearby islands, an official said.
It took divers working in difficult and dangerous conditions more than two days to get into the sunken ferry and two more to retrieve the first bodies.
Many relatives believe some of the victims may have survived for several days in trapped air pockets, but perished in the cold water after no rescue came.
As a result, some have asked for autopsies to be performed, to see if it would be possible to determine the precise cause and time of death.
A United States navy rescue and salvage vessel, the USS Safeguard, yesterday arrived at Jindo.
The vessel has “divers and other necessary equipment aboard, but it remains to be seen how the ship can contribute to the ongoing efforts to retrieve bodies”, a US military spokesman said.
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