All 15 crewmembers taken into custody and face charges of criminal negligence
Four more crewmembers were arrested late Friday amid an investigation into the delayed evacuation of a ferry that sank off South Korea's southwestern coast earlier this month, leaving more than 300 passengers dead or missing.
All 15 members of the ill-fated Sewol ferry's crew, including the vessel's captain, have now been taken into custody and face charges of criminal negligence.
Police and prosecutors are also investigating the ferry's shipping company, Chonghaejin Marine, to establish whether the Sewol had been fit for purpose.
After seizing another ferry run by the firm, investigators found that life rafts and escape shoots were not working properly.
Divers have since pulled bodies from the wreckage on a near daily basis, with the official death toll standing at 187 on Saturday while 115 others remain unaccounted for.
The passengers were initially told to stay within the ship and transcripts show it took around 30 minutes for an evacuation to be ordered.
The bodies of 48 students were found Friday within a single room designed to accommodate just over 30 people.
Four more crewmembers were arrested late Friday amid an investigation into the delayed evacuation of a ferry that sank off South Korea's southwestern coast earlier this month, leaving more than 300 passengers dead or missing.
All 15 members of the ill-fated Sewol ferry's crew, including the vessel's captain, have now been taken into custody and face charges of criminal negligence.
Police and prosecutors are also investigating the ferry's shipping company, Chonghaejin Marine, to establish whether the Sewol had been fit for purpose.
After seizing another ferry run by the firm, investigators found that life rafts and escape shoots were not working properly.
Divers have since pulled bodies from the wreckage on a near daily basis, with the official death toll standing at 187 on Saturday while 115 others remain unaccounted for.
The passengers were initially told to stay within the ship and transcripts show it took around 30 minutes for an evacuation to be ordered.
The bodies of 48 students were found Friday within a single room designed to accommodate just over 30 people.