Four crew members nabbed over sunken ferry

Four crew members rescued from the sunken ferry Sewol were put under arrest Monday on charges of abandoning the ship and not fulfilling their duty to safely evacuate passengers, police officers said.

A joint investigation team of police and prosecutors said that the four are facing charges of negligence of duty and breaking the standards of the Rescue and Aid at Sea and in the River Act.

The arrests come three days after the arrests of the capsized ship's 69-year-old captain, Lee Jun-seok, and two other crew members on suspicions of negligence of duty and violation of maritime law.

The 6,825-ton ferry Sewol capsized and sank off the southwestern island of Jindo on Wednesday on its way to the resort island of Jeju. A total of 467 passengers were aboard the ship, with 64 of them confirmed dead and more than 200 others still missing as of early Monday.

The four are two first mates, including a suspect surnamed Kang, one second mate and a chief engineer, officers said.

The team alleged that Kang was the crew member who made radio communication with the vessel traffic service (VTS) and asked whether passengers would be rescued if they abandoned ship off South Korea's southern coast.

(Yonhap)