A joint investigation team of prosecutors and police on Friday raided the office of Chonghaejin Marine Co., the owner and operator of the Sewol ferry that sank Wednesday.Computer files and documents related to the ferry were procured by some 10 officials at the office in Incheon. The raid kicked off the probe into allegations that the Sewol took an alternative route on its fateful journey from Incheon to Jeju, and whether human error affected the accident, which took lives of 25 as of 10 a.m. Fr

Family members of the victims in the Sewol ferry disaster berated the government for what they called “insufficient” rescue efforts on Friday.During a press conference, they also claimed that the government lied to them about the number of rescuers. The government said it mobilized 555 personnel, but the families argued there were fewer than 200 rescuers at the scene.“We are pleading for help to you, the people, as we are infuriated about the government’s attitude,” the families said in a statem

Police said late Thursday that all messages claiming to have been sent from the sunken ferry Sewol after it went down at noon on Wednesday appear fabricated.Police did not comment on the messages reported to have been sent in the morning when the ship was still sinking, many of which were disclosed by relatives and contain video and photos of the boat sinking.Investigators secured cellphone numbers of some 271 people that are still missing from Wednesday’s fatal sinking and analyzed the records,

Navy and Coast Guard rescuers found 17 more bodies of passengers trapped in the Sewol on Thursday night and Friday morning, bringing the total number of confirmed dead to 28.Of the 17 victims, only 10 have been identified. They include eight high-school students, one crewmember and a 60-year-old passenger. All of the bodies were sent to Hankuk Hospital in Mokpo, South Jeolla Province.As the bodies arrived at the hospital, families of the victims burst into tears with some of the parents screamin

The youngest survivor from the sunken ferry Sewol is out of the hospital, and is still pinning her hopes on rescue workers finding her missing father, mother and older brother. The 5-year-old girl surnamed Kwon and her family were aboard the ill-fated vessel en route from Incheon to Jejudo Island. Her father had reportedly decided to move the family to the resort island, away from the urban life. Kwon was alone when she was taken to Hankuk Hospital in Mokpo, South Jeolla Province, Wednesday. One

Incheon Port said Thursday that the Sewol had installed more cabins, touching off speculation that the added weight might have played a role in the tragic sinking. Chonghajin Marine Co., which operates the ill-fated ship, added extra rooms to hold about 180 more passengers, shortly after the ship was brought to Korea from Japan in October 2012, the Incheon Regional Maritime Affairs and Port Administration said. The capacity of the ship rose to 921 passengers after the modification, with the numb

Grieving family members of over 200 missing in a ferry disaster on Thursday urged the government to step up efforts in search and rescue operations. The family members, gathered at a gymnasium on Jindo Island, South Jeolla Province, voiced their frustration as they struggled with overwhelming despair and sadness in the face of a tragedy that shattered their lives overnight.“I’ve heard from several sources that children are stuck inside the ship, yet the search for the survivors is taking too lon

Criticism is surging over allegations that the captain of the Sewol escaped first, abandoning hundreds of passengers who were fighting their way out of the sinking vessel.The 61-year-old captain, surnamed Lee, allegedly escaped using the only one of the 46 life boats to function properly.Maritime police questioned Lee for the second straight day Tuesday on the allegations and the cause of the ship’s sinking. They referred to Lee a “suspect,” whereas he was identified as just a “witness” the prev

An onboard announcement telling passengers to stay inside the ferry Sewol as it sank off the coast of Jindo Island, South Jeolla Province, appears to have reduced passengers’ chances of survival. Video clips taken by the survivors show that an onboard announcement repeatedly told passengers to stay inside, despite the vessel continuing to tilt. “Go inside and wait, as the cabin is safer,” a ferry crew member is heard saying in one video clip taken by a passenger. However, the clip also shows tha

President Park Geun-hye visited the scene of the ferry Sewol’s sinking on Thursday, as the search and rescue operations crawled along, hampered by increasingly adverse weather conditions. The death toll rose to 14 while 282 remained unaccounted for as of 10:00 p.m. The ferry Sewol, operated by Chonghaejin Marine Co., sank Wednesday, some 20 kilometers off the coast of Jindo Island, South Jeolla Province. It was heading to Jejudo Island from Incheon with 475 passengers and crew onboard. Although

The ferry disaster off Korea’s south coast may have been caused by an attempt to change direction too sharply. According to reports, the Coast Guard arrived at a preliminary conclusion that the Sewol ferry turned too quickly to the left, causing it to lose balance, and ultimately to capsize. Based on the accounts provided by crew members, the investigators suspect that the Sewol sharply changed direction when only a gradual change was required. As the ship lost balance, its steering equipment is

Police authorities on Thursday launched an investigation into the claim that there were still survivors inside the sunken ferry Sewol.The claim was circulating through Kakao Talk, a local smart messenger service. “We are trying to verify the truth of the message that there were still survivors in the ship calling for help,” a police officer in charge of cyberterrorism told reporters, declining to be named.Police are not ruling out the possibility that the message could be a prank. They said that

One Russian is still missing and two Filipinos were rescued from the ferry that sank near South Jeolla Province on Wednesday, the nation’s disaster control agency said on Thursday.The two Filipinos, Cabras, 40, and Manio, 45, are singers reportedly hired by the ship operator Chonghaejin Marine Co., according to the emergency agency official.The National Emergency Management Agency said the missing Russian was confirmed to be a student attending Danwon High School in Ansan, Gyeonggi Province. “Th

(Yonhap)While there is a fast tidal current near the site where the ferry Sewol sank, there are no rocks that could sink such a large ferry, said fishermen on Jindo Island, South Jeolla Province. Residents familiar with the area claim that a mistake by the captain may have caused the tragedy that has left nine dead and 287 others unaccounted for.“Based on my experiences, (I’m) sure that it didn’t happen from a collision with rocks,” said a 49-year-old fisherman surnamed Kim, one of those who hel