South Korean President Park Geun-hye Calls Sewol Crew's Behaviour 'Act of Murder'

A family member of missing passengers who were on the South Korean passenger ferry Sewol which sank in the sea off Jindo, reacts as she looks toward the sea at a port where family members of missing passengers gathered, in JindoReuters

South Korean President Park Geun-hye has condemned the captain and some of the crew members of the sunken passenger ferry Sewol for their negligence and said their behaviour was like "an act or murder".

At a meeting with senior South Korean officials, Park said: "The conduct of the captain and some crew members is unfathomable from the viewpoint of common sense, and it was like an act of murder that cannot and should not be tolerated."

She said their actions were "utterly incomprehensible and unacceptable" and added "civil and criminal" charges will be brought against those who are responsible for the disaster.

Witnesses have said the Sewol's captain and many other crew members abandoned the ship as the ferry started listing. Captain Lee Joon-seok and two others were arrested following the disaster and it was later revealed that the third mate was in charge of the steering when the ship began to capsize.

Arrest warrants have also been issued against three other mates and the ferry's engineer.

The death toll in the tragedy has reached 64 and 238 passengers are still unaccounted for. There were 476 people on board when the ship went down.

Amid improvement in weather conditions in the area, search for the missing people continues as divers stepped their efforts gaining more access into the sunken vessel.

"An entranceway to the dining hall was found at 5:51am, and entry will be attempted around noon," Ko Myeong-seok, government spokesperson, told reporters.

Many of the missing passengers, mostly school children, are likely to be found in the dining hall.

Easter Monday Traditions

An Orthodox priest blesses Easter eggs after a religious service in Russia's far Eastern port of Vladivostok.Reuters

Easter Monday is observed differently in every culture.

Also known as Bright Monday, Renewal Monday, Wet Monday, and Dingus Day, it falls on the Monday immediately after Easter Sunday.

While some of observances of the day include Christian symbolism, there is no explicit biblical significance.

For some, Easter Monday is a solemn remembrance of Christ's death and resurrection which may be marked by an outdoor procession.

Others partake in Easter egg-rolling competitions. There is also a tradition for siblings and/or spouses to wake each other up by pouring buckets of water on each other, hence the name "Wet Monday".

The tradition of having a holiday on the Monday after Easter stems from the medieval festival of Hocktide. This was a two day festival on the Monday and Tuesday after Easter, originating in the eleventh century.

The day marks the end of the period of Easter remembrance and celebrates the onset of Spring and the spirit of renewal.

Easter Monday is a bank holiday in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, but not in Scotland.

British Man Killed in Malaysia Tourist Bus Crash

Redang Island, Malaysia (WikiCommons)

A British man has been killed after a bus crashed and rolled 15 feet down a ravine in Malaysia.

Harry Christopher Woolhouse, 32, from Peterborough, was on a double-decker travelling to Singapore when it crashed and rolled into an oil palm plantation.

Other passengers on the bus, including tourists from America, France, India and China, survived the crash, which happened at around 4.20pm on Easter Sunday.

The driver is reported to have suffered spinal injuries.

"It was raining and I suddenly lost control of the vehicle when descending the sloping stretch. The bus span several times before it rolled over the slope on the left side of the road," he told the New Straits Times.

It's thought the bus was bringing holiday-makers back from Pulau Redang - an island off Malaysia's east coast.

One passenger said: "It happened so fast that the only thing I could remember was the bus had already landed in a bush.

"Luckily my friends and I managed to crawl out through the broken windows."

The Foreign Office confirmed Woolhouse's death, adding: "We are providing consular assistance to his family at this sad time."

Families of South Korea Ferry Victims Clash With Police

Families of missing ferry victims clash with police on Jindo Island, South Korea.

The families of missing passengers on the sunken South Korean ferry Sewol have clashed with officials in a furious protest about the slow pace of the rescue operation.

Police barred the path of family members as they attempted to leave Jindo Island to march to the presidential palace in the country's capital, Seoul, to demand answers.

Many are anxious to retrieve the bodies of those who died before they start to decompose.

Some families have been camping in a gymnasium on Jindo Island since Wednesday's disaster, anxiously awaiting news of their relatives.

"Bring me the body so that I can see the face and hug my child," shouted one woman.

Lee Woon-geun, father of missing passenger Lee Jung-in, 17, told the BBC: "We want an answer from the person in charge about why orders are not going through and nothing is being done. They are clearly lying and kicking the responsibility to others."

Divers have finally entered the ferry, retrieving 22 bodies, but 248 passengers remain missing.

After yesterday's operation, the death toll stands at 54, with 174 having been rescued on the night of the tragedy.

About 200 ships, 34 aircraft and 600 divers have been taking part in the operation, but currents remain strong, and visibility poor, hampering efforts to retrieve bodies.

The ship's captain and two other crew members have been remanded in custody, and have been charged with negligence of duty and violation of maritime law.

Among them is a 25-year-old first mate who prosecutors claim was steering the vessel when it capsized.

Reports suggest that the ferry, which was on a 300-mile trip from the port of Incheon to the resort island of Jeju, may have turned sharply then listed before capsizing. Some experts believe that it may have struck a rock before sinking.

Investigators are now probing the safety record of the ferry operator and the actions of the crew, as well as investigating how the luggage was stowed.

In messages to family members, those trapped on board as the ship sank talked of being trapped in crowded corridors, unable to get out.

Crew members are reported to have instructed passengers to stay on board, even as the vessel listed sharply.

Many of the 350 passengers on board were pupils and staff from Danwon High School.

Ferry captain Lee Joon-Seok left the vessel before it sank, and did not issue orders to evacuate.

In a TV address Lee, who has more than 40 years' experience at sea, said: "I am sorry to the people of South Korea for causing a disturbance and I bow my head in apology to the families of the victims.

"I gave instructions regarding the route, then I briefly went to the bedroom and then it happened.

"At the time, the current was very strong, temperature of the ocean water was cold, and I thought that if people left the ferry without (proper) judgement, if they were not wearing a life jacket, and even if they were, they would drift away and face many other difficulties.

"The rescue boats had not arrived yet, nor were there any civilian fishing ships or other boats nearby at that time. There was a mistake on my behalf as well but the steering (gear of the ship) turned further than it was supposed to."

Over 100 Killed in South Sudan Cattle Raid

Cattle are fiercely guarded in South Sudan for fear of raidsReuters

More than 100 people have died in South Sudan's Warrap State during a dispute over cattle.

The attack on a cattle herders' camp killed about 28 civilians, local Information minister Bol Dhel told the UN-backed Miraya FM radio.

Police and soldiers then chased the attackers, killing 85 people. "Some of them [the attackers] were recaptured on the swamp areas going to Unity State," Dhel told AFP.

"The attackers targeted cattle camps, trying to drive away the cattle while people were sleeping," Paul Dhel Gum, the acting minister of information and telecommunications said to Xinhua news agency.

"The fighting took place from Thursday till Friday when the attackers got the chance to run away with nothing in hand," he said, adding that the attackers were backed by men in military uniform believed to have come from neighbouring Unity state.

The governor of Warrap, Nyandeng Malek, condemned the "barbaric" act on innocent people, vowing to conduct a thorough investigation into the incident.

The country has been riven by a fierce civil war since December. Thousands have been killed and more than 1 million people have been forced to leave their homes.

The fighting is between soldiers loyal to President Salva Kiir against mutinous troops who sided with Riek Machar, who was deposed as vice-president in 2013.

The clashes have also taken on an ethnic aspect, with President Kiir's Dinka tribe against paramilitary forces from Machar's Nuer people.

However, it was not immediately clear if the cattle raid was connected to the ongoing conflict.

The cattle raid is a common phenomenon in South Sudan, where weapons are prevalent in dozens of tribes following the end of a 21-year-long civil war with Khartoum, which led to the independence of South Sudan from Sudan in 2011.

Cattle are a main source of wealth and pride for many communities. Many civilians are armed, and cattle are necessary as young men need them as dowries to get married.