Captain of capsized South Korean ferry gets 36 years in prison

The captain of a ferry that sank in South Korea in April, killing more than 300 people, was convicted of professional negligence and received a 36-year prison sentence on Tuesday.

Capt. Lee Joon Seok could have been given a death sentence, which is a rare punishment in South Korea. The chief engineer received a 30-year sentence, and 13 other crew members each were sentenced to up to 20 years, South Korean media is reporting.

The Sewol was headed from Incheon to the island of Jeju when it sank, and many of the passengers who died were teenage students on a field trip. Since the accident, 295 bodies have been recovered from the water, but nine are still missing.

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