18th April, 2014
The captain of a South Korean ferry that capsized three days ago, leaving 28 people confirmed dead and 268 missing, was arrested early Saturday, Yonhap news agency reported.
Lee Joon-Seok faces five charges, including negligence of duty and violation of maritime law, the agency said.
A joint investigation team of police and prosecutors on Friday had sought arrest warrants for Lee, 52, and two of his crew without specifying charges, the coastguard had said.
Yonhap Saturday said a local court in Mokpo had issued warrants for him and two other crew members, citing the possibility that they may flee or destroy evidence.
Earlier, prosecutors said Lee had handed the helm to his third officer before the ferry capsized.
Three days after the sinking, relatives were clinging to increasingly slim hopes that some may have survived in air pockets.
The unfolding tragedy was compounded by the apparent suicide of a high school vice principal who had been rescued from the 6,825-tonne Sewol that sank 16 April with hundreds of his students trapped inside.
The breakthrough by dive teams in finally accessing the ship came more than 48 hours after the 6,825-tonne Sewol went down, a delay that has incensed the relatives of those still unaccounted for.
After several attempts, two divers managed to pry open a door and enter the cargo section on Friday afternoon, a senior coastguard official said.
Hours later another two-man team accessed one of the cabins, but found nothing.