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Video shows S. Korea ferry captain escape sinking ship

– Relatives’ fury at delay –

South Korea remains in a state of national mourning, as furious relatives and the public at large cast around for someone to blame for one of the country’s worst maritime accidents.

The video released Monday showed the open decks of the ship nearly empty, as crew repeatedly instructed passengers to stay in their cabins until it became impossible for them to evacuate because the ship was tilting too much.

The delay in the crucial final hours – when most crew members fled the ferry – sparked outrage that many lives could have been saved if passengers had received timely instructions.

Prime Minister Chung Hong-Won tendered his resignation on Sunday, admitting he had not been up to the task of overseeing the official response. He was told by President Park Geun-Hye to stay in his post until the recovery has finished.

The probe into the sinking has expanded from the ferry operator, Chonghaejin Marine, and its affiliates, to state ship safety inspectors and even sea traffic controllers amid fury over lax safety oversight and delayed rescue efforts.

On Monday prosecutors raided the coastguard office in the southern port of Mokpo to probe allegations that it had failed to respond quickly enough to a passenger’s emergency call.

The office received the call – reportedly from a teenage boy – a few minutes before the ship sent its first distress signal to sea traffic controllers.

During his call, the boy was bombarded with questions about the ferry’s coordinates and the number of people on board.

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A coastguard official later told reporters they had mistaken him for a crew member after he was transferred from another emergency call centre.

That centre in the southern province of South Jeolla is also being investigated for signs of negligence.

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