The captain of the South Korean ferry that sank on Wednesday was arrested early Saturday, after an arrest warrant was issued by a local court. Lee Joon Seok was arrested along with other crew members. He made a short apology to the families of the victims on Thursday, but defended his side on Saturday after his arrest.
According to Yonhap, a South Korean news agency, the 68-year-old captain has been charged on five counts including violation of maritime law and including negligence of duty. This is after the ship transcript revealed that it took 30 minutes before the ferry captain gave his instructions to passengers to evacuate.
“I gave instructions regarding the route, then I briefly went to the bedroom and then [the sinking] happened,” Lee said on Saturday, emphasizing that the passengers can not withstand the cold water and the strong current even if they are wearing life jackets. He added that the rescue boats have not yet arrived at the time and no other boats were seen nearby.
The ferry named Sewol sank on the coast of Jindo island on Wednesday where it was supposed to make a turn. A Maritime Ministry spokesman said that the ferry made the turn between 8:48 a.m. and 8:49 a.m., but it was known whether that action was made voluntarily or not. Senior prosecutor Yang Jung-jin later told the media that the captain abandoned his passengers and “escaped” the ship.
Yang added thet Lee was not present on the deck of the ferry when it was passing through an area with a cluster of islands close to each other. He noted that the ferry captain should be there to help a mate when making the turn. It was not clear though as to where Lee was during that time. However, it was learned that the two crew members have failed to reduce its speed and may have made a sharp turn that triggered the tragedy. They were also said to have not made the necessary effort to save lives.
As of posting, three dead bodies were found inside the sunken ship but have not been recovered. The ferry had a total of 475 passengers; most of them were high school students. Twenty eight are confirmed dead and 270 others are still missing. There is no exact number of survivors found, but 13 of them are now being treated at the Mokpo Hankook Hospital. Search and rescue operation is still going on.
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