South Korean authorities raid home of ferry company boss Yoo Byung-un

Prosecutors investigating the fatal sinking of a South Korean ferry have raided the home of Yoo Byung-un, the head of a family that owns Chonghaejin Marine, the company that operated the ship.

Kim Hoe-jong, a prosecutor on the case, said yesterday's raid was part of a probe into "overall corruption in management".

Of the 476 passengers and crew on board the Sewol, 339 were children and teachers on a high school outing to the holiday island of Jeju. Only 174 people have been rescued and the remainder are presumed to have drowned. The confirmed death toll yesterday was 150.

South Korean prosecutors tend to adopt a blanket approach in raids, rather than targeting specific lines of inquiry.

They raided the home of one of Yoo's sons yesterday, but he was away, the door was locked and they could not enter the house. They also raided an office in the premises of a branch of a church that Yoo founded.

Financial regulators are also investigating whether the wider conglomerate illegally used overseas borrowings.