Ms Park said that the government had failed to prevent the disaster and bungled its emergency response.

Her apology comes amid ongoing work to retrieve bodies from the sunken hull.

The Sewol ferry sank off South Korea on 16 April, with 476 people aboard. A total of 174 were rescued, with the remainder confirmed dead or missing.

Officials have retrieved almost 200 bodies and divers are continuing to search for those still unaccounted for.

“I don’t know how to apologise for the failure to prevent this accident, and for the insufficient first response,” Ms Park said in the statement.

“I am sorry to the people and heavy-hearted that many precious lives were lost.”

Ms Park’s apology comes amid mounting public anger and criticism over the disaster. Most of those on board were students travelling on a high school trip.

Attention has focused on why so few were evacuated from the stricken vessel, and on the possibly negligence of the captain and crew.

On Sunday, South Korean Prime Minister Chung Hong-won offered his resignation over the disaster.

In her statement, Ms Park she would create a new government agency to handle large-scale accidents, Yonhap news agency reported.

The national safety ministry would also be placed under the prime minister’s office, the agency said.

“We should have a firm determination to make the entire safety system from scratch,” Ms Park said.

“The entire Cabinet should come up with safety measures for the people with an attitude to remodel the country from square one.”

Earlier on Tuesday Ms Park visited a memorial for the schoolchildren who died in the disaster.

It is not yet clear what caused the incident but investigations are focusing on whether modifications made to the vessel made it more unstable.

Reports have emerged that the sleeping cabins were refitted some time between 2012 and 2013, which experts say may have inadvertently affected the balance of the vessel.

The ferry was also reported to be carrying cargo more than three times its required amount.

All 15 crew members involved in the navigation of the ferry are now in custody, facing criminal negligence charges.

Follow Us

The post S Korea president apologises over ferry disaster appeared first on New Mail Nigeria.

In a statement, a sombre Chung said the “cries of the families of those missing still keep me up at night”.

The Sewol ferry with 476 people on board – most of them students and teachers – sank off South Korea on 16 April.

Officials have confirmed 187 died, but scores are missing presumed drowned.

Furious relatives have repeatedly criticised what they see as the slowness of the recovery operation.

“The right thing for me to do is to take responsibility and resign as a person who is in charge of the cabinet,” Mr Chung said in a brief televised statement.

“On behalf of the government, I apologise for many problems from the prevention of the accident to the early handling of the disaster.”

He added: “There have been so many varieties of irregularities that have continued in every corner of our society and practices that have gone wrong. I hope these deep-rooted evils get corrected this time and this kind of accident never happens again.”

There was no immediate word from President Park Geun-hye about whether she would accept Mr Chung’s resignation.

An opposition party spokesman described it as “thoroughly irresponsible” and a “cowardly evasion” of responsibility.

The day after the disaster, Mr Chung was booed and someone threw a water bottle at him when he visited grieving parents.

Divers were battling atrocious weather conditions on Sunday as they tried to retrieve more bodies trapped in the sunken ferry.

A coastguard spokesman said heavy seas whipped up by strong winds were badly complicating recovery efforts.

“The situation is very difficult due to the weather, but we are continuing search efforts, using the occasional calmer periods,” the spokesman said, adding that 93 divers would take part in Sunday’s operation.

All 15 crew members involved in the navigation of the ferry are now in custody, facing criminal negligence charges.

On Friday, divers found 48 bodies of students wearing lifejackets in a single room on the vessel meant to accommodate just over 30 people.

The group was crammed into a dormitory and all were wearing lifejackets, a South Korean Navy officer said.

The presence of so many victims in the cabin suggested many had run into the room when the ship tilted, correspondents said.

The reason for the disaster is still unclear.

But prosecutors are said to be investigating whether modifications made to the ferry made it more unstable.

Factors under consideration include a turn made at about the time the ship began to list, as well as wind, ocean currents and the freight it was carrying.

Reports have emerged indicating that the ship’s sleeping cabins were refitted some time between 2012 and 2013, which experts say may have inadvertently affected the balance of the vessel.

Follow Us

The post South Korean PM resigns over ferry appeared first on New Mail Nigeria.