Pope urges prayers for victims and families of South Korean ferry disaster

April 19, 2014 - Pope Francis, who is closely following the South Korean ferry disaster has urged all to pray for the victims and that families mourning them. “Please join me in praying for the victims of the ferry disaster in Korea and their families,” the Pope urged a tweet on his Twitter account @pontifex, on Saturday. The ferry, Sewol, carrying 476 passengers and crew, capsized on Wednesday on a journey from the port of Incheon to the southern holiday island of Jeju. So far, 32 people are known to have died. The official number of those missing as of Saturday stood at 272, mostly school children, revised up from an earlier estimate of 269.

The 69-year-old captain, Lee Joon-seok, was arrested in the early hours of Saturday on charges of negligence along with two other crew members, including the third mate who was steering at the time of the capsize.