South Korea ferry disaster: What we know about Sewol's sinking
Updated
Authorities in South Korea are searching for what caused a ferry to sink off the south-west coast of Korea with more than 460 passengers and crew onboard.
The ferry, Sewol, was sailing from the western port of Incheon to Jeju island - known as South Korea's Hawaii - and was carrying 339 teenage students and their teachers, among other passengers.
The cause of the incident is unknown and authorities are seeking to find out why the ship listed and flipped over entirely, leaving only a small section of its hull above water.
South Korean navy and coast guard vessels are still searching for the bodies of missing passengers, who are now presumed dead. Here is what we know so far about the incident.
Survivors said they heard a loud thump. They said the ship came to a sudden halt and started rapidly sinking.
The ship, built in Japan 20 years ago, was following a well-travelled route.
Although the wider area has rock hazards and shallow waters, they were not in the immediate vicinity of the ship's usual path.
State broadcaster YTN quoted investigation officials as saying the ship was off its usual course and had been hit by a veering wind, which caused containers stacked on deck to shift.
Witnesses have said the ferry turned sharply before it began listing. However, it is not clear why the vessel turned.
Marine salvage expert John Noble said the ship was travelling at about 18 knots and may have hit the seabed or a shipping container.
"There is a lot of evidence... that the ship hit something," he said.
"There was a thump or a thud and this would suggest that she came into contact either with the seabed or a submerged object like perhaps a container."
It took more than two hours for the ferry to capsize completely. Some passengers wearing life jackets scrambled into the sea and waiting rescue boats.
Students on the ferry were reportedly trapped in passageways by rapidly rising water.
Other passengers claim they were told to stay put by ferry crews who said it was too dangerous to move.
"The announcement told us we should stay still," one survivor told reporters.
"The ship was already sinking. There were a lot of students who didn't get out of the ship."
One student sent a text message to his mother as the ship went down saying, "Mum, this may be the last chance to tell you I love you".
Witnesses told Korean media that the captain of the vessel was one of the first to leave the stricken vessel.
According to a coastguard official in Jindo, the waters where the ferry capsized have some of the strongest tides off South Korea's coast, meaning divers were prevented from entering the mostly submerged ship for several hours.
On April 18, the captain, Lee Joon-seok, was arrested and charged with five offences, including negligence of duty and violation of maritime law. Arrest warrants were also issued for two other crew members.
Officials have warned that the recovery operation could take as long as two months to complete.
Three giant floating cranes are alongside the sunken ship, but officials say they will not be used until it is certain there are no more survivors to be rescued.
On April 21, another four crew members - three officers and an engineer - were also arrested on charges ranging from criminal negligence to violation of maritime law, according to prosecutors cited by Yonhap news agency.
Prosecutors on April 23 raided the home of Yoo Byung-un, the head of a family that owns the company which operated the Sewol ferry, in connection with the sinking.
ABC/wires
Topics: maritime, accidents, disasters-and-accidents, korea-republic-of
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