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19 March 2024

Prosecutors raid ferry firm founder's home

South Korean rescue personnel carry the body of a victim recovered from the "Sewol" ferry on a Korea Coast Guard ship at the harbour in Jindo on April 23, 2014. The confirmed death toll from South Korea's ferry disaster rose sharply to more than 120 on April 22 as divers speeded up the grim task of recovering bodies from the submerged ship and police took two more of its crew into custody. (AFP)

Published
By Reuters

South Korean prosecutors investigating the fatal sinking of the Sewol ferry on Wednesday raided the home of Yoo Byung-un, the head of a family that owns the Chonghaejin Marine Co. Ltd, the company that operated the vessel.

Yonhap news agency reported that Yoo's home and a church in which he is believed to have an interest were raided. The prosecutors' office declined to comment and Reuters correspondents at the church in Seoul said it had been locked.

The finances of Chonghaejin and its complex share structure have come into the spotlight in recent days. Yoo was jailed for fraud for four years in the early 1990s.

Last Wednesday's accident looks set to be South Korea's worst maritime disaster in 21 years in terms of loss of life.

The Sewol sank on a routine trip from the port of Incheon, near Seoul, to the southern island of Jeju.

Of the 476 passengers and crew on board, 339 were children and teachers on a high school outing. Only 174 people have been rescued and the remainder are all presumed to have drowned. The confirmed death toll on Wednesday was 128.