The captain and three other crew members of the ferry that sank off South Korea last month were indicted Thursday on charges of manslaughter through gross negligence.
If convicted, Captain Lee Joon-Seok of the Sewol ferry, two navigators and a chief engineer could potentially be handed the death sentence. They are accused of leaving the ship as it was sinking while telling passengers, mostly high school students on a school excursion, to stay where they were.
The four, together with 11 other lower-ranking crew members, are accused of being the first to scramble to safety, while hundreds of passengers remained trapped in the sinking vessel.
