4/27/2014 All sunken ferry crew in S Korean custody - Channel NewsAsia

1/3

This page was printed from channelnewsasia.com

TITLE: All sunken ferry crew in S Korean custody

POSTED: 26 Apr 2014 21:10

URL: http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/asiapacific/all-sunken-ferry-crew-in/1084222.html

All surviving crew members of a sunken South Korean ferry were in custody and under

arrest on Saturday, prosecutors said, as bad weather prevented the recovery of any of

the more-than 100 bodies still missing.

JINDO: All surviving crew members of a sunken South Korean ferry were in custody and underarrest on Saturday, prosecutors said, as bad weather prevented the recovery of any of the more-than 100 bodies still missing.

The Sewol's captain, Lee Joon-seok, and 10 crew members have already been arrested oncharges ranging from criminal negligence to abandoning passengers.

"We are waiting for arrest warrants to be issued for the remaining four crew members," prosecutorYang Jong-jin told AFP.

He said they were expecting the procedure to be completed later on Saturday.

Once the warrants have been issued, arrests will be made and all 15 of the surviving crew will be incustody.

The confirmed death toll stood on Saturday at 187, with 115 unaccounted for -- many bodies arebelieved trapped in the ferry that capsized on April 16 with 476 people on board.

The ship's captain has been sharply criticised for delaying the evacuation order until the ferry waslisting so badly that escape was almost impossible.

Prosecutors have raided a host of businesses affiliated with the ferry operator, the ChonghaejinMarine Company, as part of an overall probe into corrupt management.

The widening investigation has also seen travel bans put on eight current and former executives ofthe Korea Register of Shipping -- the body responsible for issuing marine safety certificates.

Concerns are growing among anguished families that the bodies of those who died may never befound as bad weather set in.

A looming storm and high tides put a temporary halt to operations to recover the remains of thosestill missing over a week after the disaster.

"Over the weekend, strong wind and rain is expected in the Jindo area," a coastguard spokesmantold journalists.

4/27/2014 All sunken ferry crew in S Korean custody - Channel NewsAsia

2/3

"As efforts to find the missing people are becoming protracted, there are growing concerns amongtheir families that bodies might be lost for good," he said.

Making up the bulk of the passengers on the 6,825 tonne Sewol when it sank were 325 high schoolstudents -- around 250 of whom are either confirmed or presumed dead.

Although all hope of finding survivors has been extinguished, there is still anger and deepfrustration 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 asthey have tried to get inside the upturned vessel, which rests on a silty seabed.

The challenging conditions have meant divers are unable to spend more than a few minutes in theship each time they go down.

Even so, they are coming across horrifying scenes in the murky water, including one dormitoryroom -- which would normally have held around 31 people -- packed with the bodies of 48 studentswearing lifejackets.

Around a quarter of the 187 dead recovered so far have been found in waters outside the sunkenvessel, 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.

Authorities -- wary of the palpable anger among relatives -- have mobilised trawlers and installed13-kilometre-long (eight-mile-long) nets anchored to the seabed across the Maenggol sea channelto prevent the dead being swept into the open ocean.

Dozens of other vessels and helicopters have been scouring the site and beyond, with the searchoperation expanded up to 60 kilometres from the scene of the disaster.

Police and local government officials will also be mobilised to scour coastal areas and nearbyislands, a coastguard official said.

Furious families demanded a meeting with Choi Sang-hwan, deputy head of the KoreaCoastguard, near the pier in Jindo Port, urging him to send the divers back into the water.

"We are waiting for the right moment as conditions in the sea are not favourable," said Choi.

It took divers working in difficult and dangerous conditions more than two days to get into thesunken ferry and two more days to retrieve the first bodies.

Many relatives believe some of the victims may have survived for several days in trapped airpockets, 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 todetermine the precise cause and time of death.

On Saturday, a US navy rescue and salvage vessel, the USS Safeguard, arrived at Jindo, AFPjournalists on the scene said.

4/27/2014 All sunken ferry crew in S Korean custody - Channel NewsAsia

3/3

The vessel has "divers and other necessary equipment aboard, but it remains to be seen how theship can contribute to the ongoing efforts to retrieve bodies", a US military spokesman told AFP.

- AFP/gn