Captain ‘ashamed’ of leaving ferry before passengers

The captain of the South Korean ferry that capsized off the southwest coast was facing a criminal investigation amid unconfirmed reports that he was one of the first people to jump to safety as the vessel began sinking.

The Sewol ferry was carrying 475 passengers and crew when it capsized on Wednesday. The government has said nine people were found dead and 179 had been rescued, leaving 287 people, most of them teenaged school children, missing and possibly trapped in the vessel.

The captain, identified as Lee Joon-seok, 69, is being questioned by the coastguard and is the subject of a criminal investigation, a coastguard official said.