All 15 crew members of South Korean ferry held

April 26, 2014 12:00 pm | Updated May 23, 2016 12:26 pm IST - SEOUL

A relative of a passenger aboard the sunken ferry is consoled by a nun, left, as she waits for news on her missing loved one at a port in Jindo, South Korea on Saturday.

A relative of a passenger aboard the sunken ferry is consoled by a nun, left, as she waits for news on her missing loved one at a port in Jindo, South Korea on Saturday.

A prosecutor investigating the South Korean ferry sinking that left 302 people dead or missing said all 15 crew members involved in the ship’s navigation are now in custody.

Prosecutor Yang Jung-jin of the joint investigation team said two helmsmen and two members of the steering crew were detained on Saturday. Eleven other crew members, including the captain, were arrested previously.

They are accused of negligence and of failing to help passengers in need as the ferry Sewol sank on April 16. The captain 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.

Ten days after the sinking, 187 bodies have been recovered and 115 people remain missing.

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