Death toll in South Korea ferry sinking climbs to 32

April 19, 2014 at 9:52 a.m.

by The Associated Press

South Korean rescue members search passengers believed to have been trapped in the sunken ferry Sewol near the buoys which were installed to mark the area in the water off the southern coast near Jindo, south of Seoul, South Korea, Saturday, April 19, 2014. The captain of the sunken South Korean ferry was arrested Saturday on suspicion of negligence and abandoning people in need, as investigators looked into whether his evacuation order came too late to save lives. Two crew members were also arrested, a prosecutor said.
South Korean rescue members search passengers believed to have been trapped in the sunken ferry Sewol near the buoys which were installed to mark the area in the water off the southern coast near Jindo, south of Seoul, South Korea, Saturday, April 19, 2014. The captain of the sunken South Korean ferry was arrested Saturday on suspicion of negligence and abandoning people in need, as investigators looked into whether his evacuation order came too late to save lives. Two crew members were also arrested, a prosecutor said.

MOKPO, South Korea — South Korean coast guard officials say they've found three more bodies from the sinking of a ferry, raising the death toll to 32.

Coast guard spokesman Kim Jae-in says the latest bodies were recovered Saturday, three days after the ferry sank.

The updated death toll follows the arrest Saturday of the captain of the ferry on suspicion of negligence and abandoning people in need. More than 300 are missing or dead.

Officials say strong currents and rain have made it difficult to get inside the ferry, where most of the passengers are believed to have been trapped.

Prosecutors say the ferry's captain, 68-year-old Lee Joon-seok, was arrested along with the third mate, a 25-year-old woman identified only by her surname, Park, and 55-year-old helmsman Cho Joon-ki.

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