--- description: A total of seven crew members have been arrested, and the family who owns the ship has been barred from leaving the country title: South Korea Ferry Disaster: Sewol Death Toll Tops 150, Probe Broadens image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- * [World](/section/world/) ## World Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [East Asia](/tag/east-asia/) ## East Asia Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # South Korean Ferry Investigation Broadens as Death Toll Tops 150 ## Video: Watch: Chilling Footage of The South Korean Ferry Rescue [Watch (HLS stream): Watch: Chilling Footage of The South Korean Ferry Rescue](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/kGq8jYxk.m3u8) (0:53)  _Published 2014-04-16. Responders race to resuce nearly 300 missing passengers from a capsized South Korean ferry._ by [Per Liljas](/author/per-liljas/) ## Per Liljas Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Apr 22, 2014 4:04 AM CUT by [Per Liljas](/author/per-liljas/) ## Per Liljas Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Apr 22, 2014 4:04 AM CUT **Updated: April 22, 2014, 6:45 p.m. E.T.** A [series of funerals](http://english.yonhapnews.co.kr/news/2014/04/22/0200000000AEN20140422002700315.html "undefined") were held on Tuesday morning for victims of the ill-fated ferry that sank off South Korea’s coast six days earlier, as the death toll [surpassed](http://www.koreaherald.com/view.php?ud=20140422001161 "undefined") 150. The number of deaths from the _Sewol_ has rapidly increased since divers found additional paths to enter the submerged vessel and took advantage of the neap tide, with dozens of bodies recovered on Tuesday and 28 the day before. The majority of the 376 passengers on board were high school students going on a field trip to the resort island of Jeju. Over a hundred passengers remain missing. “The conditions are so bad, my heart aches,” rescue diver Bard Yoon [told](http://www.cnn.com/2014/04/21/world/asia/south-korea-ship-sinking/index.html "undefined") CNN. “We’re going in thinking there may be survivors. When we have to come back with nothing, we can’t even face the families.” The incident is the worst [maritime disaster](http://www.koreaherald.com/view.php?ud=20140421001103 "undefined") in the country since 1993 and has stirred outrage among relatives, who have lashed out against the government for not managing to rescue more than 174 people. South Korean authorities [broadened](http://www.koreaherald.com/view.php?ud=20140421001156 "undefined") their investigation on Monday as they arrested four additional crew members and barred the family who owns the ferry’s operating company from leaving the country. “The measure is to question them and hold them responsible for the poor management of the vessel,” a prosecution official told the nation’s Yonhap News Agency. An extra deck was added to the 20-year-old ferry after the company acquired it in 2012, raising questions about how well balanced the modifications made it. The ferry’s captain and two crew members have already been charged with negligence of duty and violating maritime law after abandoning the ship without efficiently helping passengers, an act [labeled](http://time.com/69788/south-korean-president-calls-ferry-crew-murderous/ "undefined") “unforgivable” and “murderous” by President Park Geun-hye on Monday. According to the _Korea Herald_, the captain is likely to [face](http://www.koreaherald.com/view.php?ud=20140421001183 "undefined") a life sentence in prison. On Monday a chief engineer on board attempted suicide but is reportedly in stable condition and will soon be summoned for further questioning. Not all crew members are accused of wrongdoing, though. Some [reportedly](http://bigstory.ap.org/article/acts-bravery-emerge-pilloried-ship-crew "undefined") gave their life jackets to passengers, and one woman refused to leave before helping students off the ship. She was later found dead, becoming one of at least seven crew members who lost their lives or are still missing. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/71342/south-korea-ferry-sinks-death-toll-100/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/71342/south-korea-ferry-sinks-death-toll-100/"},"headline":"South Korean Ferry Investigation Broadens as Death Toll Tops 150","datePublished":"2014-04-22T04:04:34.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-21T07:25:18.817Z","description":"More than 100 people remain missing after the Sewol sank off South Korea last week, prompting the arrest of at least seven crew members","url":"https://time.com/71342/south-korea-ferry-sinks-death-toll-100/","keywords":["East Asia","South Korea","ferry disaster"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Per Liljas","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/per-liljas/"}],"articleSection":"World","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/world/","name":"World"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/east-asia/","name":"East Asia"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/71342/south-korea-ferry-sinks-death-toll-100/","name":"South Korean Ferry Investigation Broadens as Death Toll Tops 150"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Ferry Death Toll Climbs Above 100","description":"More than 100 people have been confirmed dead in the wake of the horrific ferry disaster off the coast of South Korea. 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