Sharp turn caused deadly ferry sinking: investigators

A drastic change in course was the main cause of last month's ferry sinking off Korea's southwest coast, which left more than 300 people dead or missing, investigators said Thursday.

While passing through a narrow channel off the southwestern island of Jindo on April 16, the 6,825-ton ferry Sewol made a sharp turn at a 15-degree angle before tilting and capsizing, a team of police and prosecution officials said, announcing the interim results of their investigation.

Cargo overloading and a lack of water in the ballast tanks also made the ferry unable to recover its balance from the sharp veering, the team added.

Investigators also said they decided to bring charges of murder against the captain and three crew members for abandoning the sinking ship without trying to evacuate hundreds of passengers.

"The captain and other crew members were well aware that the ferry Sewol would need much more time to come back to its balance due to problems in its ability to recover," one investigator said, asking not to be named. "Because of that fact, (crew members) received orders not to make a drastic turn."

But the captain was not in the pilothouse when the unexperienced third mate and a steersman made the sharp turn in the channel, the investigation team said.

The ferry was carrying an estimated 476 people on board, most them students from a high school near Seoul on a school field trip to the southern resort island of Jeju. The ferry, which departed from Incheon, west of Seoul, sank about two hours away from the resort island.

The death toll from one of the country's worst maritime disasters stood at 281 as of Thursday, with 23 people still unaccounted for and 172 others rescued.

Coast Guard, Navy and civilian divers resumed their search for those still missing early Thursday, but they failed to recover any bodies, officials said.

Thursday marks one full month since the sinking of the ferry.

Divers plan to resume their search again later Thursday when the tide becomes low, according to the government accident settlement team.

After Thursday's search, the team will come up with a new search operation plan in order to better locate ferry compartments where many of the missing people are likely trapped, they said.

"We will review the result of our previous search operations in order to sort out compartments where the missing passengers are likely trapped," an official from the government team said. "It's highly likely that the missing people may remain in the head or tail parts of the ship's fourth deck."

A total of 124 military and civilian divers are on standby Thursday for the search efforts, which will be focused on the lounge areas of the ship's fourth and fifth decks, according to the team.

Officials said, meanwhile, that one of the private contract divers engaged in the search efforts was rushed to a nearby hospital a day earlier after complaining of decompression sickness.

The 57-year-old diver, surnamed Yum, went through a medical checkup and was recovering in the hospital, the officials said, adding that his symptoms were not life-threatening.

It was the third time a civilian diver in the search operation has been sent to a hospital. (Yonhap)