SEOUL: The South Korean President has likened the actions of the sunken ferry's captain and crew members to "murder" on Monday, Xinhua news agency reported.
"What the captain and some crew members did was akin to an act of murder that is unacceptable and not permissible from a common-sense standpoint," Park Geun-hye said during a meeting with senior secretaries.
South Korean president Park Geun-hye.
Park said it was "an unthinkable act both legally and ethically" for the captain and crew members to have ordered the ferry's passengers to remain behind in the sinking ship while they abandoned the vessel to escape to safety.
Captain Lee Joon-seok, 69, was arrested on Saturday for five charges including negligence of duty and abandonment resulting in deaths.
Lee was among the first to abandon the vessel.
Two sailors, including a third-ranking officer and a helmsman, were arrested for similar charges with Lee.
Prosecutors said the three-crew members had given up on the ship without making efforts to evacuate the passengers first.
Some 40 officials of the ship's operator Chonghaejin Marine have also been prevented from leaving the country.
Prosecutors are probing whether there were any illegal actions involved in running the ship, including overloading and illegal modification of the vessel.
The 6,825-tonne ferry Sewol departed South Korea's western port city of Incheon last Tuesday night for southern resort island of Jeju and sank the next day.
The ship was carrying 476 people on board including 325 high school students.
A total of 64 people have been confirmed dead with 174 others rescued and 238 still missing. - Bernama
Post time 21-4-2014 12:36 PM
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