4 more crew detained over S. Korea ferry disaster

South Korea Coast Guard members transfer the bodies of passengers from the sunken South Korean ferry ‘Sewol’, to a ship at sea off Jindo on April 20, 2014. Divers began retrieving bodies on April 20 from inside the submerged South Korean ferry that capsized four days ago with hundreds of children on board, as families angered by the pace of the rescue efforts scuffled with police. AFP

SEOUL – South Korean prosecutors Monday detained four more crew members in a widening investigation into a ferry disaster that left hundreds missing, presumed dead, local media reported.

Yonhap news agency cited prosecutors as saying three officers and one engineer from the capsized ferry Sewol had been taken into police custody, following the arrest at the weekend of the captain and two other crew members.

The 6,825-ton ship sank off the southwest coast on Wednesday with 476 people on board — mostly high school students on a holiday trip.

Captain Lee Joon-Seok was arrested on Saturday along with a helmsman and the ship’s relatively inexperienced third officer, who was in charge of the bridge when the ship first ran into trouble.

They were charged on counts ranging from criminal negligence to violation of maritime law.

The four detained Monday could face similar charges, the prosecutors told Yonhap.