Captain of sunken South Korean ferry defends slow evacuation
Decision to hold back on evacuation order was proper, says arrested officer; families of missing children give DNA to help identifications
The arrested captain of the South Korean ferry that capsized four days ago with 476 people on board defended his decision to delay its evacuation, as relatives of some of the more than 200 missing children offered DNA swabs to help identify the dead.
Investigators arrested Lee Joon-seok and two of his crew early on Friday. All three have been criticised for abandoning hundreds of passengers trapped in the Sewol, as they made their own escape.
Lee was charged with negligence and failing to secure the safety of passengers in violation of maritime law.
Thirty-two people have been confirmed dead in the disaster, but 270 are still missing - most of them children on a high-school holiday trip.
Even if my son were alive, I don't seen how he could ever be reached in time
Captain Lee was arraigned along with the two officers in charge of the bridge at the time.