SOUTH KOREA-FERRY/FILE File footage chronicles South Korea's ferry accident, which killed more than 300 people

Record ID: 135106

  • Title: SOUTH KOREA-FERRY/FILE File footage chronicles South Korea's ferry accident, which killed more than 300 people
  • Date: 13th April 2015
  • Summary: JINDO, SOUTH KOREA (FILE - APRIL 21, 2014) (REUTERS) **** WARNING CONTAINS FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY **** VARIOUS OF BODIES ON STRETCHERS BEING HANDED OVER TO SOUTH KOREAN COAST GUARD OFFICERS A South Korean coast guard search boat carrying bodies pulled from a capsized ferry arrives at a port in Jindo, where families of missing ferry passengers are waiting. The bodies are wrapped
  • Embargoed: 28th April 2015 13:00
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  • Topics: General
  • Reuters ID: LVARRJ8HKXP09FHYW6XK7M2U9F
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: April 16, 2015 marks one year since a South Korean ferry sank killing more than 300 people.
    The Sewol capsized while making a turn on a routine voyage to the holiday island of Jeju, leaving 304 people dead or missing and creating a crisis for the government of President Park Geun-hye over its handling of the disaster.
    The vessel was later found to be defective, with additions made to increase passenger capacity making it top-heavy and unstable.
    The ferry operator also loaded the ship with excess cargo and not enough water in the ballast tank to maintain balance, causing it to list sharply when it made the ill-fated turn and sink rapidly.
    More than two-thirds of the 476 passengers aboard the Sewol were students on a school trip. Only 172 of the ferry's passengers and crew were rescued. Of the 304 confirmed dead or still listed as missing, 250 were school children. Many of them died trapped in the vessel following orders by the crew to stay in their cabins as it capsized and sank.
    An official memorial alter was set up and opened to the public two weeks after the disaster. Thousands of South Koreans came to the memorial to pay their respects to the victims.
    Yoo Byung-un, 73, who headed the family that owned the operator of the ferry, was found dead in an orchard on June 12, 2014 after eluding authorities for nearly two months in South Korea's biggest manhunt, hiding behind the wall of a rural cabin in the final days while it was being searched. He was wanted on charges of embezzlement, negligence and tax evasion
    The public outcry provoked by the tragedy had led to concerns over whether the ferry crew would be able to get a fair trial, especially after the prosecutors charged four of them with homicide.
    They had sought the death penalty for the captain of Sewol, Lee Joon-seok, who is in his late 60s. The crew on trial have said they thought it was the coastguard's job to evacuate passengers and that they were not adequately trained for that role, but most admitted they did not do enough.
    A South Korean court found the captain guilty of negligence, but acquitted him of homicide for which prosecutors had sought the death penalty.
    The court convicted the ship's chief engineer of homicide for not aiding two injured fellow crew members, making him the only one of four facing homicide charges to be found guilty on that count, and sentenced him to 30 years in prison.
    The remaining 13 surviving crew members of the ferry Sewol were found guilty of various charges, including negligence, and handed down prison terms ranging from five to 20 years. All put in appeals following the verdicts.
    On April 7, prosecutors continued their demand for the captain to face capital punishment in the final hearing during the appeals trial.
    The South Korea government said on April 1, 2015 it would pay about $380,000 in compensation for each of the 250 students who died in the disaster.
    After the announcement of compensation, some victims' families accused the government of trying to divert attention from their demands for an independent probe.
    Public demands by the victims' families for the government to allow an independent investigation into the disaster, however, have intensified in the weeks leading up to the anniversary.
    Victims' families say a government investigation last year was inadequate, and that a joint government-private commission set up for a new probe into the sinking does not have enough representation from the families.
    There are further demands for the ship to be raised, but the government has yet to decide on a plan for doing so.
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