MOSCOW, April 21 (RIA Novosti) - A South Korean ship that capsized and sank last week has killed 64 people and the fate of 238 others remains unknown, the Yonhap news agency reported Monday.
Authorities plan to use more than 200 ships, some 34 pieces of air equipment, as well as about 550 workers and divers to keep the rescue operations going on the sixth day since the shipwreck.
A 16-year-old Russian boy is reported to be among the missing, the Russian Foreign Ministry said on its website last week. The Russian embassy in Seoul said Korean police and rescuers were aiding its investigation into the teenager's whereabouts and that it remains in close contact with his parents and relatives.
The prosecutor's office of South Korea has formally charged the captain of the ferry, who faces a prison sentence of up to life imprisonment. Investigators believe the captain was one of the first to leave the sinking ship in the guise of a passenger. Moreover, passengers complained that the crew did not take appropriate measures during the crash to evacuate the ferry, instead urging everyone to remain seated.
The passenger ferry Sewol, carrying students and teachers on a field trip, sank off the coast of South Korea April 16 after departing South Korea's northwestern town of Incheon on its way to the southern island of Jeju.
