South Korea's president apologized Tuesday for the government's inept initial response to a deadly ferry sinking as divers fought strong currents in their search for nearly 100 passengers still missing nearly two weeks after the accident.
The government also raised the death toll for what has become a point of national mourning and shame to 204. Most of the dead and missing are high school students.
Divers are largely using their hands to feel for remaining bodies as they make their way through a maze of dark cabins, stairwells, storage rooms, lounges and restaurants in the submerged ferry, which flipped upside down as it sank April 16. But they must fight strong currents swirling around the ferry and, once inside, overturned furniture, mattresses and other debris floating in the murky, sediment-heavy waters.
President Park Geun-hye's
apology, and the earlier resignation of her prime minister, comes amid
rising indignation over claims by the victims' relatives that the
government did not do enough to rescue or protect their loved ones.
Park
said at a Cabinet meeting at the presidential Blue House that South
Korea has "lost many precious lives because of the accident, and I am
sorry to the public and am heavy-hearted." She says the government
couldn't prevent the accident and "the initial response and remedy were
insufficient."
Park had
earlier visited a memorial set up in Ansan, the city near Seoul where
the high school students are from, to pay her respects to victims.
Wearing a black dress and white gloves, she laid flowers at an altar and
bowed her head. According to local media, some angry family members of
victims shouted at her and demanded an apology. She listened to them for
10 minutes before leaving.
Investigators, meanwhile, are
expanding their probe into both the cause of the ship's sinking and the
initial response by emergency workers. Prosecutors are also analyzing
calls exchanged between crew members of the sunken ferry and the offices
of the owner, Chonghaejin Marine Co. Ltd., senior prosecutor Ahn
Sang-don said Tuesday.
Multiple
crew members on the sinking ferry communicated about seven times by
phone with the owner's offices, Ahn said. The first call to the owner
was placed at 9:01 a.m. on April 16, just 6 minutes after the ferry
reported a distress call to a vessel traffic services center. The last
call by a crew member to the employer was made around 9:40 a.m.
South
Korean media reports said the captain of the sinking ferry was seeking
approval from the CEO of Chonghaejin to be able to evacuate the ship,
but Ahn said investigators are still looking into why the calls were
made.
Crew members initially
asked passengers to stay put and wear life jackets. It is unclear
whether an evacuation order was relayed to passengers, although crew
members interviewed by The Associated Press said the captain sent an
evacuation order.
Of the 475
people believed to have been aboard at the time of the sinking, only 174
people survived, including 22 of the 29 crew members.
The government is making initial
plans to eventually salvage the ferry but has indicated it won't do so
until search efforts end.
All
15 crew members responsible for the ship's navigation have been
arrested, but they haven't been formally charged yet because
investigations are still going on. Prosecutors say they were negligent
and failed to help passengers in need.
Capt.
Lee Joon-seok initially told passengers to stay in their rooms and took
half an hour to issue an evacuation order, by which time the ship was
tilting too severely for many people to get out. Lee told reporters
after his arrest that he withheld the evacuation order because rescuers
had yet to arrive and he feared for passengers' safety in the cold,
swift water.
Senior prosecutor
Yang Jung-jin said that the cause of the sinking could be due to
excessive veering, improper stowage of cargo, modifications made to the
ship and tidal influence. He said investigators would determine the
cause by consulting with experts and using simulations.
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