Ferry relatives confront officials must visit

The fisheries minister and coastguard chief explained the search operation in detail to angry relatives Frustrated relatives of scores of passengers still missing from the South Korean ferry disaster have angrily confronted the fisheries minister and the coastguard chief.

The pair were surrounded by angry family members in a tent on Jindo island where the rescue operation is being co-ordinated.

They spent all of Thursday night trying to explain the search effort.

At least 183 passengers have been confirmed dead, with 121 still missing.

There were 476 people on board, with many trapped inside as the ferry listed and sank within two hours of distress signals being sent. A total of 174 passengers were rescued.

Many of those who died or are presumed dead were students and teachers from Danwon high school, south of Seoul.

On a visit to Seoul on Friday, US President Barack Obama expressed his condolences for South Korea's "incredible loss" and offered America's solidarity.

"I can only imagine what the parents are going through at the moment - the incredible heartache," he said.

President Barack Obama expressed his sorrow during a meeting with President Park Geun-Hye Divers continued their arduous task of scouring the sunken ferry for more bodies Some relatives of those killed or missing have released paper boats in their honour in Jindo

Prosecutors are said to be investigating whether modifications made to the ferry made it more unstable.

Factors under consideration include a turn made around the time the ship began to list, as well as wind, ocean currents and the freight it was carrying.

Reports have emerged indicating that the ship's sleeping cabins were refitted some time between 2012 and 2013, which experts say may have inadvertently affected the balance of the boat.

Investigators on Friday said that life rafts and escape chutes on a sister ship to a sunken ferry were not working properly.

With bad weather and stronger currents expected at the weekend the government says that it is "mobilising all available resources" towards the rescue effort.

It says that about 88 expert divers are searching for survivors on cabins on the third and fourth decks,

The authorities say that hundreds of civilian divers who are also at the scene are slowing down the rescue operation and will no longer be allowed participate.

Local media reports say that divers who have succeeded in reaching the wreck are exhausted, with some needing treatment for decompression sickness after swimming in cold, dark waters for long hours.

As the chances of finding survivors recedes, relatives have become increasingly angry with what they see as the slow pace of the rescue operation.

In addition to their overnight confrontation of the fisheries minister and the coastguard chief, another top official was attacked on Thursday by relatives who accused him of lying about the rescue effort.

Deputy coastguard head Choi Sang-Hwan was surrounded by about 20 relatives who stormed his temporary office at Jindo port, correspondents say.

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South Korea ferry body count 113 must visit

The confirmed death toll from the South Korean ferry that capsized last week has reached 113, as divers recovered more bodies from the sunken hull.

Rescuers searching for bodies have been able to take advantage of better weather on Tuesday, officials say, with more than 190 passengers still missing or presumed trapped inside the vessel.

The ferry tipped over and sank within two hours, but it is not yet clear why.

The crew have been criticised for allegedly failing to save passengers.

Five have been charged with not fulfilling their duty to evacuate passengers safely, officials told the South Korean Yonhap news agency.

At least six other crew members are reported to have been detained.

As the ship listed passengers were told to remain in rooms and cabins, reports suggest, amid confusion on the bridge over whether to order them to abandon ship.

The first distress call from the sinking ferry was made by a boy with a shaking voice, officials told Reuters.

It reported that his plea for help was followed by about 20 other emergency calls from children on board the ship.

Many family members and friends of those on board the ferry are still awaiting news of the fate of their loved ones Teams of divers have been searching the sunken ferry for the bodies of those who died Bodies are being brought to shore - where many relatives wait for news of their loved ones

A crew member quoted by local media said that attempts to launch lifeboats were unsuccessful because of the tilt of the ship. Only two of the vessel's 46 lifeboats were reported to have been deployed.

South Korean President Park Geun-hye on Monday condemned the conduct of some of the crew, calling it "akin to murder".

The BBC's Jonathan Head in nearby Jindo island says that the rescue operation has now become something of a grim routine, with police boats regularly returning from the scene of the disaster with bodies recovered by military divers.

Our correspondent says that most of the families of those still missing have accepted that no more survivors will be found.

Robot ready

A total of 174 passengers were rescued from the Sewol, which capsized as it sailed from Incheon in the north-west to the southern island of Jeju.

But there were 476 people on board, including 339 children and teachers on a school trip. Many were trapped inside the ship as it listed to one side and then sank.

Divers have managed to reach many of the cabins in the hull of the upturned ferry, although they are still trying to get into the ship's restaurant, where they believe many of the passengers were trapped.

They have also loaded an underwater robot at the port this morning, ready to help in the operation to bring the hull to the surface.

Crabster robot The crabster robot is the size and weight of a Smart carIt is designed to work up to 200m below the surface in high tidal currents where divers are unable to operate A 500m-long cable allows four operators to control the robot from a surface vessel. Data is also fed to the surface via the cableIt is equipped with 10 optical cameras and a long-range scanning sonar

Rescue officials say they will keep searching with divers for another two days, but that the families of the victims have agreed that the salvage operation can begin after that.

Investigations are focusing on whether the ferry took too sharp a turn - perhaps destabilising the vessel - before it started listing and whether an earlier evacuation order could have saved lives.

Captain Lee Joon-seok was not on the bridge when the ferry began listing. It was being steered by a third mate who had never navigated the waters where the accident occurred, prosecutors say.

The captain and two other crew members have been charged with negligence of duty and violation of maritime law. Four more crew members were reported to have been detained on Monday and two on Tuesday.

There were up to 30 crew members on the stricken ship, reports say, and some seven of them are missing.

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S Korea leader condemns ferry crew

AppId is over the quota
AppId is over the quota
21 April 2014 Last updated at 09:27 South Korean President Park Geun-hye says those responsible will face charges

South Korean President Park Geun-hye has condemned the conduct of some of the crew of the ferry that sank last week, calling it "akin to murder".

Ms Park said that those to blame would have to take "criminal and civil" responsibility for their actions.

Divers are continuing to recover bodies from the ferry, as they gain access to more of the submerged hull.

The death toll now stands at 64, with 238 people still missing, most of them students from a school near Seoul.

Bodies are being brought two or three at a time back to Jindo, a southern island close to where the ferry sank.

Police, meanwhile, have been given access to hundreds of messages sent by passengers and crew so they can construct a detailed chronology of the ferry's last hour.

Lucy Williamson reports on the traumatised town where many of the students came from

Transcript released

Ms Park, whose government has faced criticism over its initial response to the disaster, told aides that the actions of the captain and some of the crew "were utterly incomprehensible, unacceptable and tantamount to murder", the presidential office said.

"The captain did not comply with passenger evacuation orders from the vessel traffic service... and escaped ahead of others while telling passengers to keep their seats. This is something that is never imaginable legally or ethically," she said.

Those who had broken the law or "abandoned their responsibilities" would be held to account regardless of rank, she said.

Teams have been bringing bodies recovered from the sunken ferry ashore to Jindo island Bereaved relatives are desperate to have the bodies of their loved ones returned It is not yet clear when the vessel could be raised, but specialist equipment has been brought in Over the weekend relatives confronted police as they took part in a protest march

A total of 174 passengers were rescued from the Sewol, which capsized as it sailed from Incheon in the north-west to the southern island of Jeju.

But there were 476 people on board - including 339 children and teachers on a school trip. Many were trapped inside the ship as it listed to one side and then sank.

Investigations are focusing on whether the vessel took too sharp a turn - perhaps destabilising the vessel - before it started listing and whether an earlier evacuation order could have saved lives.

Continue reading the main story

Controller: "Please go out and let the passengers wear life jackets and put on more clothing."

Crew member: "If this ferry evacuates passengers, will you be able to rescue them?''

Controller: "At least make them wear life rings and make them escape.''

Crew member: "If this ferry evacuates passengers, will they be rescued right away?''

Controller: "Don't let them go bare. At least make them wear life rings and make them escape... We don't know the situation very well. The captain should make the final decision and decide whether you're going to evacuate passengers or not."

Crew member: "I'm not talking about that. I asked, if they evacuate now, can they be rescued right away?''

Details of the panic and indecision on the bridge emerged on Sunday, when the coastguard released a transcript of the last communications between the crew and controllers.

In the transcript, a crew member repeatedly asks if vessels are on hand to rescue passengers if evacuation is ordered.

The captain, Lee Joon-seok, has said he delayed the move for fear people would drift away.

Mr Lee, 69, was not on the bridge when the ferry began listing. It was steered by a third mate who had never navigated the waters where the accident occurred, prosecutors said on Saturday.

The captain and two other crew members have been charged with negligence of duty and violation of maritime law.

Four more crew members were reported to have been detained on Monday over allegations they failed to protect passengers.

Investigators had also banned the head of ferry operator Chonghaejin Marine and its largest shareholder from leaving the country, Yonhap said.

It has since emerged that Mr Lee appeared in a promotional video for the journey four years ago, describing the ferry journey as safe as long as the passengers followed the crew's instructions.

In a 2010 promotional video, Captain Lee Joon-seok says he believes ferries are the safest form of transport "as long as passengers follow the instructions of our crew"

A coastguard spokesman said divers on Monday were focusing on the third and fourth decks where cabins were located in their search for the missing.

"We have also opened a route leading to a dining hall, and will try to enter that area," AFP news agency quoted the spokesman as saying.

Over the weekend, there were angry confrontations between relatives of those on board and police, after a group began a protest march.

The relatives say they want more information both about what happened and about how soon the remains of their loved ones can be recovered.

Are you in the area? Do you have any information you would like to share? Please send us your comments. You can email haveyoursay@bbc.co.uk using the subject line 'South Korea ferry'.

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Anger erupts over Korea ferry rescueSnapshot: Sushmita Sen walks the ramp with daughter Renee, looks awe-striking must visit

20 April 2014 erupted at 07:27 updated wrangling as police prevented families from across a bridge

Families of passengers on a sunken South Korean ferry protested angrily about the bailout.

Police held up to 100 people, who are trying to March to the capital Seoul Jindo Island, intending to leave.

After more than three days divers have entered now the ferry 22 facilities to retrieve and brings the death toll to 54.

But missing another 248 people by Sewol ferry, which sank on Wednesday.

Some 174 passengers were rescued.

There was sadness, anger and despair as dozens of relatives, to push that through a massive police cordon. They said they wanted to March to occupy a house in the capital and the presidential election. It was a purely symbolic act, but yet another example of the frustrations of the related as Seoul drive 5 hours away.

Many parents of the missing students accept that their children don't come back.

Down at the Harbour, boats bring bodies ashore. Families are taken to a temporary morgue to identify the bodies. I heard a woman sobbing loudly from the inside.

With more than 200 in the ferry always still trapped, it will take recovery operation for several days.

The families wait nor ask now accelerated the process.

Many of the relatives of people aboard on Jindo dog, in the southwest of the country were since the capsizing.

Hundreds have at the gymnasium on the island was on news of the bailout camping.

Fights out, as some family members attempted to cross a bridge to the Mainland, allegedly broke around on the Presidential Blue House in Seoul, March about 420 kilometers (260 miles) to the North.

"The body bring me back so that I see the face and embrace my child," screamed a woman.

Lee Woon-geun, father of the missing passenger Lee young in, 17, said: "we do not go through a response from the contact person about why orders and nothing happens. "You are clearly and to be responsible for others."

Relatives are seeking called for the bodies before they decompose.

BBCs Jonathan Head on Jindo says that even the Prime Minister came to try the protesters down from the March on Seoul, with officials worried that the controversy is turning into a national political issue and the Government could damage to dissuade,.

Jonathan Head: "this is still a very slow process, painfully slow for the family"

Boats with 13 of the recently retrieved set reached Paengmok port Jindo on Sunday.

Over 200 ships have 34 aircraft and 600 divers in the search process takes part, our correspondent says.

Squid fishing boats with powerful lights were brought to help the divers to work at night.

But the currents are still strong and the view remains difficult.

Coast Guard official Koh Myung-Seok told a briefing that divers discovered found a number of routes in the ferry and facilities at various locations.

"Inexperienced"

The captain and two other crew members are in custody and negligence of duty and was accused of violation of the law of the sea.

On Saturday, officials said, was that the ferry is controlled by an inexperienced third mate in unknown waters, when it sank.

Tempers sometimes flared up between the relatives of those on board and police the South Korea Prime Minister Chung Hong the nationals won addressed directly to the Sunday rescue workers unloaded some of the facilities at a port Jindo on Sunday

The captain of the ferry, 69-year-old Lee Joon-Seok, was not originally on the bridge when the ship ran into trouble.

Sewol, capsized holiday island of Jeju at 476 million passengers and crew during a voyage from the port of Incheon, in the North West to the South.

Investigations concentrate on a sharp curve took the ship before it began listing and whether an evacuation order could have saved lives.

Some experts believe that the ship close could have replaced heavy cargo and destabilized the ship, while others admit to bear in mind that the fall could have been caused by a collision with a rock.

Inside a picture of people drew messages and calls of these trapped in crowded hallways, unable to escape the hot listing ferry.

Shots of the ship seemed to show statements by crew members to remain, for passengers on board even if it dramatically tilted to one side.

Some 350 of the people on board were students of Danwon high school in Ansan, a suburb of Seoul, were on a school trip, when the ferry sank.

On Saturday, officials said that the operation on the ship to Bergen can take up to two months.

You have so far delayed the ferry because of possible threat to trigger possible survivors.

Now give to officials, that it very unlikely for someone else to have survived.

Are you in the area? Do you have all the information you like to share with other parts? Please send us your comments. You can email haveyoursay@bbc.co.uk with the subject line "South Korea ferry".

Send pictures and videos to yourpics@bbc.co.uk or text 61124 (UK) or + 44 7624 800 100 (International). Have you can upload a big file you here.

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Search for S Korea ferry passengers must visit

 17 April 2014 Last updated at 04:11 Distressing footage has emerged, apparently showing passengers waiting to be rescued, as Lucy Williamson reports

Emergency services are continuing to search for nearly 300 people missing after a ferry carrying more than 470 sank off South Korea.

Officials say 179 people have been rescued. Most of the passengers on board were students and teachers from the same high school on a field trip.

Emergency teams used floodlights to search for survivors overnight but divers were unable to enter the ship.

At least nine people are confirmed to have died, with dozens more injured.

The vessel was travelling from Incheon Port, in the north-west, to the southern resort island of Jeju.

South Korean TV networks are constantly replaying dramatic footage of the rescue efforts. It shows an armada of small boats motoring right up beside the ferry, which listed heavily on its side before sinking.

What makes this accident even more distressing is the fact that among those on board were high school students on a trip to a holiday island.

Relatives and friends of those on board are posting on social media sites asking for any news or information about loved ones.

South Korea's Yonhap news agency said the nine dead include four 17-year-old students and a 25-year-old teacher as well as a 22-year-old female crew member. Identities of the other three were not immediately known.

The latest figures say 475 people were on board with 287 still unaccounted for.

It is not yet clear what caused the ship to list at a severe angle and flip over, leaving only a small part of its hull visible above water.

Rescue efforts are concentrated on the ship's wreckage, which sank in about 30m (98ft) of water. Many passengers are thought to be trapped inside.

Strong currents

One senior emergency official was quoted as saying it was unlikely the remaining passengers would be found alive.

But the country's Prime Minister, Chung Hong-won, said there was not "a minute or a second to waste" in the search for survivors, urging those involved to do their utmost to save more lives.

He had water thrown at him as he visited angry relatives gathered at the port of Jindo, near to where the ferry capsized.

Officials say the rescue operation involving coastguard, military and commercial vessels has been hampered by poor visibility and strong currents.

"There is so much mud in the sea water and the visibility is very low," said Lee Gyeong-og, vice-minister of security and public administration.

Divers trying to enter the ship overnight were unable to do so because of strong currents.

The US Navy has sent an amphibious assault ship, the USS Bonhomme Richard, to assist with the search and it is standing by to provide support as requested.

Flares light up the early morning sky as teams continue to search the capsized ferry Relatives wait anxiously for news of their loved ones at a port in Jindo Parents at Danwon high school hold a candle light vigil in Ansan. More than 300 students from the school were on board the ship

Rain, strong winds and fog are forecast for Thursday, and may hamper further rescue efforts.

'Shaking and tilting'

At least 325 of the passengers on board the ship were students from Danwon high school in Ansan, near the capital, Seoul. The students, aged 16 and 17, were heading on a field trip to Jeju island with about 15 teachers.

The ferry sent a distress call at around 09:00 local time (00:00 GMT) on Wednesday after it began to shake and take on water, about 20km (12 miles) off the island of Byungpoong.

Aerial footage shows frantic efforts to rescue passengers as the ship sank

Military and civilian ships and helicopters have been searching for survivors Rescued passengers were taken to the nearby island of Jindo

Survivors say they heard a loud thud, before the boat began to shake and tilt.

Some of the passengers managed to jump into the ocean, wearing life jackets and swim to nearby rescue boats and commercial vessels.

One student told local media they were instructed not to move as it was dangerous.

"I am told that my friends and other friends could not escape as the passage was blocked. It seems that there are many students who could not get out as the passage was blocked by water," the unnamed student said.

Continue reading the main story 1970: Sinking of passenger vessel Namyoung leaves 323 dead1993: Sinking of passenger vessel Seohae Ferry leaves 292 dead2007: Sinking of freighter Eastern Bright leaving 14 sailors missing2009: Sinking of cargo ship Orchid Pia after a collision leaves 16 sailors missing

Source: Yonhap

Local TV stations broadcast footage of the ferry listing and later sinking, within two hours of sending a distress signal.

Images showed rescue teams pulling teenagers from cabin windows, as some of their classmates jumped into the sea.

South Korean President Park Geun-hye has expressed sadness over the incident, saying it was "truly tragic" that students on a field trip were involved in "such an unfortunate accident".

Kim Young-boong, an official from the company which owns the ferry, has apologised.

Survivor: "There was an announcement telling us to sit still, but the ferry was already sinking"

As the disaster unfolded on Wednesday, there were conflicting accounts of the number of people rescued. Early reports suggested over 300 people had been plucked to safety but South Korean officials later revised this down.

The vessel - named Sewol - is reported to have a capacity of up to 900 people and is 146m (480ft) long.

Correspondents say this could turn out to be South Korea's biggest maritime disaster for more than 20 years.

Are you in the area? Do you have any information you would like to share? Please send us your comments. You can email us at haveyoursay@bbc.co.uk using the subject line 'South Korea ferry'.

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