South Korea ferry captain and crew charged with manslaughter of over 280 passenger deaths

The four senior crew members who abandoned the South Korean ferry could face the death penalty if convicted.

17:07 15 May 2014

The captain, chief engineer, and two officers of the South Korean ferry that capsized killing more than 280 passengers have been formally charged with manslaughter. If convicted, the four could face the death penalty. 

 

Prosecutor Ahn Sang-don, who leads the investigation, said that their decision to abandon the ship while hundreds of passengers, who were mostly high school students, perished led to grave casualties. 

 

Prosecutors also charged 11 other surviving crew members with negligence and abandoning passengers in need. All the defendants are expected to be tried together. 

 

Mr Ahn added: "The captain should have been in command of the navigation, but left that to a third officer, and that is gross negligence."

 

On Wednesday, a coastguard spokesman confirmed that five more bodies were recovered bringing the total number of death to 284. Twenty people are still missing. 

 

Only 172 people survived including the 22 of the ship’s crew members, with the rest are presumed drowned. Most of the victims were students and teachers from a school near Seoul on a day trip to the southern tourist island of Jeju.