Frustration mounts for families of South Korea ferry disaster victims

Grief was increasingly turning into anger Thursday for the families awaiting word of still-missing loved ones following a deadly South Korean ferry accident a day earlier.

As divers continued to battle frigid water temperatures and windy conditions off the country's coast, the captain of the vessel faced accusations that he was among the first to flee the doomed ship, leaving hundreds of passengers to fend for themselves.

The developments came as coastguards recovered more bodies late Thursday into Friday, raising the death toll to 25 people, according to South Korea's Yonhap News Agency. Another 179 passengers have been rescued, leaving 271 unaccounted for and possibly trapped in the vessel — meaning the death toll could jump sharply.

President Barack Obama offered his "deepest sympathies" to the families of the victims, saying in a statement: "the bonds of friendship between the American and Korean people are strong and enduring."

"Our hearts ache to see our Korean friends going through such a terrible loss, especially the loss of so many young students," the statement read. 

Frustration grew with the lack of information, causing some parents of missing school children to hire their own boat Wednesday night. They appeared to blame the government and rescue officials for not making a large enough effort.

"Since the government refused to take us to the scene 11 parents chipped in 61,000 won ($58.79) each to hire a boat and took a reporter and a diver. But there was no rescue operation going on," said one father who declined to give his name. "I am extremely angry. Media is saying the rescue op is still going on. It's all a lie," he said.

Park Yung-suk said she had seen the body of her teenage daughter's teacher brought ashore. "If I could teach myself to dive, I would jump in the water and try to find my daughter," she said.

President Park Geun-hye also faced angry parents when holding an impromptu and at times very tense meeting in an island gymnasium.

"What are you doing when people are dying? Time is running out," one woman shouted as Park tried to speak.

Much of the anger was focused on the head of the South Korean coast guard, Kim Suk-kyoon, with relatives insisting not enough was being done to find survivors more than 30 hours after the ferry sank.

When Kim countered that there were 550 divers involved in the search effort, he was immediately drowned out by jeering and booing, with one furious parent shouting:  "But none of them are actually in the water." 

Kim said coast guard officials were questioning the captain, but declined to provide details or speculate on the cause of the sinking. He denied earlier reports by Yonhap news agency that the ferry had turned too quickly when it was supposed to make a slow turn. He also declined to say if the ferry had gone off its usual route.

Meanwhile, the captain of the ship, Lee Joon-seok, 69, faces a criminal investigation, coastguard officials said, amid unconfirmed reports that he was one of the first to jump to safety from the stricken vessel.

One official said authorities were investigating whether the captain had indeed abandoned the vessel early and one of the charges he faced was violating a law that governs the conduct of shipping crew. Many survivors told local media that Lee was one of the first to be rescued, although none actually saw him leave the ship. The coastguard and the ferry operator declined comment.

"I am really sorry and deeply ashamed," said a man identified by broadcaster YTN and Yonhap news agency as the captain. Shown briefly on television, his face was covered by a gray hoodie. "I don't know what to say."

There were 475 people aboard, and some of the frantic parents of the 325 student passengers who had been heading to Jeju island for a four-day trip gathered at Danwon High School in Ansan, which is near Seoul, and on Jindo, an island near where the ferry slipped beneath the surface until only the blue-tipped, forward edge of the keel remained visible.

An immediate evacuation order was not issued for the ferry, which sank with scores of people likely trapped inside, because officers on the bridge were trying to stabilize the vessel after it started to list amid confusion and chaos, a crew member said Thursday.

The first instructions from the captain were for the passengers to put on life jackets and stay put, and it was not until about 30 minutes later that he ordered an evacuation, Oh Yong-seok, a crew member, told The Associated Press. But Oh said he wasn't sure if the captain's order, given to crew members, was actually relayed to passengers on the public address system. Several survivors also told the AP that they never heard any evacuation order.

SLIDESHOW: SOUTH KOREAN FERRY SINKS