Kim said coast guard officials were questioning the captain, but declined to provide details or speculate on the cause of sinking. Kim denied earlier reports by Yonhap news agency that the ferry had turned too swiftly when it was supposed to make a slow turn. He also declined to say whether the ferry had wandered from its usual route.
"I am really sorry and deeply ashamed," a man identified by broadcaster YTN and Yonhap news agency as the captain, 60-year-old Lee Joon-seok, said in brief comments shown on TV, his face covered with a gray hoodie. "I don't know what to say.Coast guard officers, experts on marine science and other experts and officers planned to gather Thursday in Mokpo to start discussions on how the ship sank."
The coast guard said it found two more bodies in the sea Thursday morning, pushing the death toll to nine. The dead have so far been identified as a female crew member in her 20s, three male high school students; an 18-year-old woman and 18-year-old man, who authorities aren't yet sure are linked to the high school; Choi, the female high school teacher; Nam Yoon-chul, a male high school teacher; and a man named Kim Ki-woong.
Dozens were injured. Coast guard officials put the number of survivors early Thursday at 179.The Sewol, a 146-meter (480-foot) vessel that can reportedly hold more than 900 people, set sail Tuesday from Incheon, in northwestern South Korea, on an overnight, 14-hour journey to the tourist island of Jeju.
The ferry was three hours from its destination when it sent a distress call after it began listing to one side, according to the Ministry of Security and Public Administration.
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