South Korea Ferry: All 15 Crew In Custody

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Rescue and Search Continue At The Site Of Ferry Disaster Off South Korea

A prosecutor investigating the South Korean ferry sinking says all 15 crew members involved in the ship’s navigation are now in custody after four more were arrested.

Yang Jung-jin, of the joint investigation team, said two helmsmen and two members of the steering crew were detained this morning.

Eleven other crew members, including the captain, were previously arrested. All the crew are accused of negligence and of failing to help passengers in need as the ferry sank on April 16.

The captain initially told passengers to stay in their rooms and took half an hour to issue an evacuation order, by which time the ship was tilting too severely for many people to get out.

Meanwhile, officials said divers searching the submerged hull of the ferry found 48 bodies in a room designed to take 38.

At least 35 rooms of the ferry’s 111 rooms have been searched so far. More than 80% of the 302 dead and missing are students from a single high school from the town of Ansan, south of Seoul.

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