Arrest warrant out for S. Korea ferry captain as teacher kills himself
This South Korea Coast Guard hand-out photo taken at sea some 20 kilometres (12 miles) off the island of Byungpoong in Jindo on April 16, 2014, shows Coast Guard members rescuing some of the passengers and crew aboard a ferry that sank on its way to Jeju island from Incheon. AFP PHOTO / South Korea Coast Guard.
What you need to know:
- The ferry's captain has become a focus of public anger for escaping the ferry while hundreds of others were trapped.
JINDO, Friday
South Korean prosecutors sought arrest warrants for the captain and two crew members of the ferry that capsized two days ago as the death toll continues to rise.
The number of those killed reached 25 on Friday as the principal of the institution where most of the children killed went to school committed suicide.
But Seoul prosecutors said that the third officer was in charge of the bridge of the ferry when it capsized and not the captain.
“It was the third officer who was in command of steering the ship when the accident took place,” state prosecutor Park Jae-Eok told a press briefing on preliminary findings of the investigation into the disaster.
HEAVY CARGO
Captain Lee Joon-Seok, who has become a focus of public anger for escaping the ferry while hundreds of others were trapped, was “in the back,” Park said, without elaborating.
Most experts believe the ship either hit a rock or made a sharp turn that shifted its heavy cargo consignment — including more than 150 vehicles — and caused it to list and capsize on Wednesday morning.
Meanwhile, a high school vice principal rescued from the sinking ferry was found dead Friday, in what media reports said was an apparent suicide.
Local police on Jindo island said the body of vice principal Kang Min-Kyu, 52, was found near the gymnasium where relatives of the missing have been staying.
