Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption A truck driver onboard the ferry tells the BBC how he tried to save passengers 
 
 The confirmed death toll from the South Korean ferry that capsized last week has reached 113, as divers recovered more bodies from the sunken hull. 
 
 Rescuers searching for bodies have been able to take advantage of better weather on Tuesday, officials say, with more than 190 passengers still missing or presumed trapped inside the vessel. 
 
 The ferry tipped over and sank within two hours, but it is not yet clear why. 
 
 The crew have been criticised for allegedly failing to save passengers. 
 
 Five have been charged with not fulfilling their duty to evacuate passengers safely, officials told the South Korean Yonhap news agency. 
 
 At least six other crew members are reported to have been detained. 
 
 As the ship listed passengers were told to remain in rooms and cabins, reports suggest, amid confusion on the bridge over whether to order them to abandon ship. 
 
 The first distress call from the sinking ferry was made by a boy with a shaking voice, officials told Reuters. 
 
 It reported that his plea for help was followed by about 20 other emergency calls from children on board the ship. 
 
 Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption Jonathan Head: Robot deployed to help lift the sunken hull 
 
 Image copyright Reuters Image caption Many family members and friends of those on board the ferry are still awaiting news of the fate of their loved ones 
 
 Image copyright AP Image caption Teams of divers have been searching the sunken ferry for the bodies of those who died 
 
 Image copyright AP Image caption Bodies are being brought to shore - where many relatives wait for news of their loved ones 
 
 A crew member quoted by local media said that attempts to launch lifeboats were unsuccessful because of the tilt of the ship. Only two of the vessel's 46 lifeboats were reported to have been deployed. 
 
 South Korean President Park Geun-hye on Monday condemned the conduct of some of the crew, calling it "akin to murder". 
 
 The BBC's Jonathan Head in nearby Jindo island says that the rescue operation has now become something of a grim routine, with police boats regularly returning from the scene of the disaster with bodies recovered by military divers. 
 
 Our correspondent says that most of the families of those still missing have accepted that no more survivors will be found. 
 
 Robot ready 
 
 A total of 174 passengers were rescued from the Sewol, which capsized as it sailed from Incheon in the north-west to the southern island of Jeju. 
 
 But there were 476 people on board, including 339 children and teachers on a school trip. Many were trapped inside the ship as it listed to one side and then sank. 
 
 Divers have managed to reach many of the cabins in the hull of the upturned ferry, although they are still trying to get into the ship's restaurant, where they believe many of the passengers were trapped. 
 
 They have also loaded an underwater robot at the port this morning, ready to help in the operation to bring the hull to the surface. 
 
 Crabster robot 
 
 The crabster robot is the size and weight of a Smart car 
 
 It is designed to work up to 200m below the surface in high tidal currents where divers are unable to operate 
 
 A 500m-long cable allows four operators to control the robot from a surface vessel. Data is also fed to the surface via the cable 
 
 It is equipped with 10 optical cameras and a long-range scanning sonar 
 
 Rescue officials say they will keep searching with divers for another two days, but that the families of the victims have agreed that the salvage operation can begin after that. 
 
 Investigations are focusing on whether the ferry took too sharp a turn - perhaps destabilising the vessel - before it started listing and whether an earlier evacuation order could have saved lives. 
 
 Captain Lee Joon-seok was not on the bridge when the ferry began listing. It was being steered by a third mate who had never navigated the waters where the accident occurred, prosecutors say. 
 
 The captain and two other crew members have been charged with negligence of duty and violation of maritime law. Four more crew members were reported to have been detained on Monday and two on Tuesday. 
 
 There were up to 30 crew members on the stricken ship, reports say, and some seven of them are missing. ||||| South Korea's president described the actions of a sunken ferry's crew as "unforgivable" and "murderous" Monday as a prosecutor said that four more crew members had been detained on charges that they had allegedly failed to protect the stricken vessel's passengers. 
 
 South Korean President Park Geun-hye made the comments Monday at a Cabinet briefing, saying that the captain and crew "told the passengers to stay put but they themselves became the first to escape, after deserting the passengers." Park added that "legally and ethically, this is an unimaginable act." 
 
 ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT 
 
 Senior prosecutor Ahn Sang-don told reporters Monday that two first mates, one second mate and a chief engineer had been accused of abandoning the ship. Ahn says prosecutors are considering whether to ask a court for a formal arrest warrant that would allow for a longer period of investigation. South Koreans can only be detained for 48 hours without a court-issued formal arrest warrant. The ferry's captain and two other crewmembers were previously formally arrested on suspicion of negligence and abandoning people in need. 
 
 The announcement came as the confirmed death toll from Wednesday's sinking reached 86, with approximately 220 of the ship's 476 passengers, many of them high school students on a holiday trip, still missing. Divers gained access to the ship over the weekend and are expected to find more bodies trapped below decks, where passengers had remained, obeying the captain's initial order not to evacuate the vessel. Efforts to reach the capsized vessel had been thwarted for three days by bad weather and strong currents. 
 
 The pace of recovering bodies has accelerated in recent days, since divers finally succeeded in entering the vessel. 
 
 The discovery of bodies has dashed the faint hopes of some families who have gathered on the island of Jindo, near the site of the wreck. Relatives have been asked to identify their loved ones using the slimmest of clues. Many favored hoodies and track pants. One girl painted her fingernails red and toenails black. Another had braces on her teeth. 
 
 Meanwhile, a newly released transcript shows the ship was crippled by confusion and indecision well after it began listing Wednesday. The transcript suggests that the chaos may have added to a death toll that could eventually exceed 300. 
 
 According to the transcript released by South Korea's coast guard, about 30 minutes after the Sewol began tilting a crew member asked a marine traffic controller whether passengers would be rescued if they abandoned ship off South Korea's southern coast. The crew member posed the question three times in succession. 
 
 That followed several statements from the ship that people aboard could not move and another in which someone said that it was "impossible to broadcast" instructions. 
 
 An unidentified official at Jindo Vessel Traffic Services Center told the crew that they should "go out and let the passengers wear life jackets and put on more clothing." 
 
 "If this ferry evacuates passengers, will you be able to rescue them?" the unidentified crew member asked. 
 
 "At least make them wear life rings and make them escape!" the traffic-center official responded. 
 
 "If this ferry evacuates passengers, will they be rescued right away?" the crew member asked again. 
 
 "Don't let them go bare -- at least make them wear life rings and make them escape," the traffic official repeated. "The rescue of human lives from the Sewol ferry ... the captain should make his own decision and evacuate them. We don't know the situation very well. The captain should make the final decision and decide whether you're going to evacuate passengers or not." 
 
 "I'm not talking about that," the crew member said. "I asked -- if they evacuate now, can they be rescued right away?" 
 
 The traffic official then said patrol boats would arrive in 10 minutes, though another civilian ship was already nearby and had told controllers that it would rescue anyone who went overboard. 
 
 The cause of the disaster is not yet known, but prosecutors have said the ship made a sharp turn before it began to list. 
 
 More than 170 people survived the sinking of the Sewol, which had been on its way from the South Korean port city of Incheon to the southern tourist island of Jeju. The captain took more than half an hour to issue an evacuation order, which several passengers have said they never heard. 
 
 Dozens of relatives have started camping out at the port in Jindo to be closer to where the search was taking place, sleeping in tents in the open. Volunteers provided food and drinks and ran cellphone charging stations. A Buddhist monk in white robes stood facing the water and chanted in a calm monotone as several relatives stood behind him, their hands pressed together and heads bowed in prayer. 
 
 Anguished families, fearful they might be left without even their loved ones' bodies, vented rage Sunday over the government's handling of the crisis. 
 
 About 100 relatives attempted a long protest march to the presidential Blue House in Seoul, about 250 miles to the north, saying they wanted to voice their complaints to President Park Geun-hye. They walked for about six hours before police officers in neon jackets blocked a main road. 
 
 "The government is the killer," they shouted as they pushed against a police barricade. 
 
 "We want an answer from the person in charge about why orders are not going through and nothing is being done," said Lee Woon-geun, father of 17-year-old missing passenger Lee Jung-in. "They are clearly lying and kicking the responsibility to others." 
 
 He said relatives are desperate to retrieve bodies before they decompose beyond recognition. 
 
 "After four or five days, the body starts to decay. When it's decayed, if you try to hold a hand, it might fall off," he said. "I miss my son. I'm really afraid I might not get to find his body." 
 
 The Sewol's captain, Lee Joon-seok, 68, was arrested Saturday, along with one of the ship's three helmsmen and the 25-year-old third mate. The third mate was steering at the time of the accident, in a challenging area where she had not steered before, and the captain said he was not on the bridge at the time. 
 
 Senior prosecutor Yang Jung-jin said the third mate has refused to tell investigators why she made the sharp turn. Prosecutors have not named the third mate, but a fellow crew member identified her as Park Han-kyul. 
 
 As he was taken from court in Mokpo on Saturday, the captain explained his decision to wait before ordering an evacuation. 
 
 "At the time, the current was very strong, the temperature of the ocean water was cold," Lee told reporters, describing his fear that passengers, even if they were wearing life jackets, could drift away "and face many other difficulties." 
 
 He said rescue boats had not yet arrived, and there were no civilian vessels nearby. 
 
 The Associated Press contributed to this report. ||||| Heartbreaking text message exchanges between students trapped in the sinking ferry off the coast of South Korea and their anxious parents are offering a glimpse into the desperate situation in the crippled vessel. 
 
 "Dad, don't worry. I've got a life vest on and we're huddled together," one 18-year-old student, identified only by her last name, Shin, texted her father, according to MBC News, a Korean news station. 
 
 The father replied: "I know the rescue is underway but make your way out if you can." 
 
 "Dad, I can't walk out," she replied. "The corridor is full of kids, and it's too tilted." 
 
 The student was among the 287 still reported missing. 
 
 WATCH: Korea Ferry Accident: Families Anxiously Wait 
 
 In another exchange, a male student texted his mother, who was unaware at the time that the ferry was in distress. 
 
 "Mom, I might not be able to tell you in person. I love you," the student texted, according to MBC. 
 
 "Me too, son. I love you," the mother texted back, followed with three heart symbols. 
 
 Fortunately, that student was among the 179 people who have been rescued, MBC reported. 
 
 Survivors told harrowing tales of confusion and desperation as people slid along the floor of the sharply listing ship, colliding with one another, or found themselves trapped in cabins by a wall of water. 
 
 Rescued passengers said that immediately after they heard a booming noise, the ship began listing and they heard an announcement over the ship's PA system telling the passengers to stay in place. 
 
 "The baggage was falling out, and we were saying 'What's going on?' But the announcement told us to stay where we were, so we did," one rescued student told MBC. 
 
 READ MORE: Nearly 300 Missing After Ferry Sinks off South Korea's Coast 
 
 "The ship began tilting all of a sudden, and then people started skidding down from above," rescued passenger Young-Ja Shin told SBS News. "There was a railing, so I held onto it, but I then got hit by one of the falling people and we got pushed down to the bottom." 
 
 "It took about 10 seconds to tilt over, and then I began sliding from end to end," rescued passenger Eun-Bok Jang, 50, told SBS News. "I got hit on my side and then I couldn't breathe." 
 
 The vessel tipped over completely on its side, and there was mass confusion inside the ferry as refrigerators and other things fell over, Jang said. 
 
 When the water started rushing in, many passengers put on life vests and escaped outside. But by the time that announcements told passengers to make their way out, the ship had already submerged significantly, so there were few exits that could be used for escape, rescued passengers said. 
 
 Many passengers were gathered in the entertainment center, restaurants and shops on the third floor of the 5-deck ship, but when the ferry capsized, that third floor was fully submerged, authorities told the Yonhap news agency. There was most likely a power outage immediately after the ship capsized, so confused and frantic passengers probably had a hard time finding their way out in the dark and narrow passage ways. 
 
 "When we were making our way out, the wall was almost all water, and it was completely submerged up to the third floor," survivor In-Hwan Kang, 58, told MBC. 
 
 So-Hyun Kim, a teacher accompanying the more than 300 students from Danwon High School in Ansan, said she initially stayed in her cabin because of the announcements, but had to attempt an escape when water came rushing in. 
 
 "I couldn't go anywhere. I didn't have the strength to climb further up," she told SBS News. "There was an open emergency exit, so another teacher and I decided to just fall and swim our way toward it. I fell and hit a railing, and that's when I was rescued." 
 
 Of the 475 passengers on board the ferry, 179 were rescued. Another 287 were listed as missing and 9 died. 
 
 Rescuers were seen boarding the vessel, which had tipped to its side, and combing through the top of the ship for survivors. One man boarded the boat and quickly found what appeared to be a crew member still on it. 
 
 Bodies could be seen scattered through the water in another video shot from a helicopter. A yellow raft was tossed out of the chopper and survivors in the water swam toward it before they were pulled to safety. 
 
 Others were winched in slings to the safety of hovering helicopters. 
 
 As darkness fell, the ferry took on more water and only the rudder of the vessel remained visible before the ship sank about 100 feet below the water. Rescuers stopped searching for those still reported missing at about 7 p.m. due to strong currents and poor visibility, but they resumed their mission around 12:30 a.m. local time, taking advantage of a lull in the strong currents. 
 
 One rescued passenger said he believed that many people had been trapped inside the ferry when it sank. 
 
 The ferry, identified as the Sewol, was sailing to the southern island of Jeju when it sent a distress call as it began leaning to one side. The passengers include more than 300 students from Danwon High School in Ansan, near Seoul, who were on a school trip. 
 
 Yonhap/AP Photo 
 
 Yonhap/AP Photo ||||| The captain of a ferry that sank off the coast of South Korea Wednesday, leaving nearly 300 people missing, is under investigation as a possible criminal and was one of the first people to escape the doomed vessel, Coast Guard officials said. 
 
 Lee Joon-seok, 69, left the ferry on a lifeboat 32 minutes after reporting an accident, officials said. 
 
 The captain appeared on Korean television today, his face covered by a gray hoodie. 
 
 “I am really sorry and deeply ashamed,” he said, as he was being questioned at the Mokpo Coast Guard Office. 
 
 It's unclear which of his actions could be considered criminal. 
 
 PHOTOS: Sadness, Desperation as Ferry Sinks Off South Korea's Coast 
 
 About 270 people remain missing, with 25 fatalities confirmed and the death toll expected to rise. Hundreds of Navy and Coast Guard divers are battling murky conditions today, searching for survivors. But as the hours pass, relatives of the missing passengers are losing hope. 
 
 South Korea Coast Guard/Yonhap/AP Photo PHOTO: Boat crews try to rescue passengers from a ferry sinking off South Korea's southern coast, in the water off the southern coast near Jindo, south of Seoul, April 16, 2014. 
 
 A crew member on the Sewol, which was carrying 475 people, told The Associated Press that an immediate evacuation order was not issued because officers on the bridge were trying to stabilize the vessel after it started to tilt. 
 
 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 58-year-old crew member, told the AP. 
 
 As passengers waited, many of them, including students, sent text messages to loved ones, a glimpse into the desperate situation inside the crippled vessel. 
 
 "Dad, don't worry. I've got a life vest on and we're huddled together," one student, identified only by her last name, Shin, texted her father, according to MBC News, a Korean news station. 
 
 The father replied: "I know the rescue is underway but make your way out if you can." 
 
 "Dad, I can't walk out," she replied. "The corridor is full of kids, and it’s too tilted." 
 
 The student was among the missing passengers, many of them high schoolers at Danwon High School in Ansan. The students were on a class trip. 
 
 Ahn Young-joon/AP Photo null 
 
 Today's rescue efforts have been marked by rain, strong wind, currents and fog, as well as a lack of organization. Coast guard crews tried to inject air into the boat, but that endeavor was unsuccessful because of the poor weather conditions. 
 
 Additionally, the rescue operation center had difficulty communicating with search crews at the sinking site, which is about an hour's boat ride from Jindo Island. 
 
 WATCH: Anxious Families Wait for Answers in South Korea Ferry Sinking 
 
 Relatives of passengers yelled at authorities, demanding answers and seeking miracles at Jindo Island. Some family members visited the location where the passengers are believed to have been trapped. The only hope is that maybe, somehow the passengers are alive, saved by a pocket of air. 
 
 Other parents gathered at Danwon High School, holding a candlelight vigil. 
 
 Yonhap/AP Photo null 
 
 In Mokpo, a city close to the accident site, relatives of the dead students wailed and sobbed as ambulances drove away with the bodies, headed to Ansan. The families, who spent a mostly sleepless night at the Mokpo hospital, followed the ambulances in their cars. 
 
 The family of one of the dead, 24-year-old teacher Choi Hye-jung, spoke about a young woman who loved to boast of how her students would come to her office and give her hugs. 
 
 "She was very active and wanted to be a good leader," her father, Choi Jae-kyu, 53, said at Mokpo Jung-Ang Hospital while waiting for the arrival of his daughter's body. Choi's mother, sitting on a bench at the hospital, sobbed quietly with her head bent down on her knee. ||||| Police officers are seen as a rescue and salvage team helicopter (top) flies over a port where family members of missing passengers from the capsized passenger ship Sewol gathered to wait for news from rescue and salvage teams, in Jindo April 22, 2014. 
 
 SEOUL (Reuters) - The first distress call from a sinking South Korean ferry was made by a boy with a shaking voice, three minutes after the vessel made its fateful last turn. 
 
 He called the emergency 119 number which put him through to the fire service, which in turn forwarded him to the coastguard two minutes later. That was followed by about 20 other calls from children on board the ship to the emergency number, a fire service officer told Reuters. 
 
 The Sewol ferry sank last Wednesday on a routine trip south from the port of Incheon to the traditional honeymoon island of Jeju. 
 
 Of the 476 passengers and crew on board, 339 were children and teachers on a high school outing. Only 174 people have been rescued and the remainder are all presumed to have drowned. 
 
 The boy who made the first call, with the family name of Choi, is among the missing. His voice was shaking and sounded urgent, a fire officer told MBC TV. It took a while to identify the ship as the Sewol. 
 
 "Save us! We're on a ship and I think it's sinking," Yonhap news agency quoted him as saying. 
 
 The fire service official asked him to switch the phone to the captain, and the boy replied: "Do you mean teacher?" 
 
 The pronunciation of the words for "captain" and "teacher" is similar in Korean. 
 
 The captain of the ship, Lee Joon-seok, 69, and other crew members have been arrested on negligence charges. Lee was also charged with undertaking an "excessive change of course without slowing down". 
 
 Authorities are also investigating the Yoo family, which controls the company that owns the ferry, Chonghaejin Marine Co Ltd, for possible financial wrongdoing amid growing public scrutiny. An official at the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) told Reuters it was investigating whether Chonghaejin or the Yoo family engaged in any illegal foreign exchange transactions. The official did not elaborate. 
 
 Another person familiar with the matter told Reuters that prosecutors were looking into suspected tax evasion by the firm, its affiliates or the Yoo family with assistance from the National Tax Service. A spokesman at the tax agency declined to comment on the matter. "There are lots of reports in the media, so as the regulator we need to check if they are true," another FSS official said. Neither the Yoo family nor the company was immediately available for comment. 
 
 ONLY OBEYING ORDERS 
 
 Several crew members, including the captain, left the ferry as it was sinking, witnesses have said, after passengers were told to stay in their cabins. President Park Geun-hye said on Monday that instruction was tantamount to an "act of murder". 
 
 Many of the children did not question their elders, as is customary in hierarchical Korean society. They paid for their obedience with their lives. 
 
 Four crew members appeared in court on Tuesday and were briefly questioned by reporters before being taken back into custody. One unidentified second mate said they had tried to reach the lifeboats, but were unable to because of the tilt. 
 
 Only two of the vessel's 46 lifeboats were deployed. 
 
 Two first mates, one second mate and the chief engineer stood with their heads lowered and it was impossible to tell who was speaking. 
 
 One said there had been a mistake as the boat made a turn. Another said there was an eventual order to abandon ship. He said the crew gathered on the bridge and tried to restore balance, but could not. 
 
 "Maybe the steering gear was broken," one said. 
 
 Media said the ship lost power for 36 seconds, which could have been a factor. 
 
 Public broadcaster KBS, quoting transcripts of the conversation between the crew and sea traffic control, the Jindo Vessel Traffic Services Centre, said the passengers were told repeatedly to stay put. 
 
 For half an hour, the crew on the third deck kept asking the bridge by walkie-talkie whether or not they should make the order to abandon ship, KBS said. 
 
 No one answered. 
 
 "We kept trying to find out but ... since there was no instruction coming from the bridge, the crew on the third floor followed the instructions on the manual and kept making 'stay where you are' announcements," KBS quoted a crew member as saying. "At least three times." 
 
 Lee was not on the bridge when the ship turned. Navigation was in the hands of a 26-year old third mate who was in charge for the first time on that part of the journey, according to crew members. 
 
 In a confused exchange between the sinking Sewol and maritime traffic control released by the government, the crew said the ship was listing to port. 
 
 "Make passengers wear life jackets and get ready in case you need to abandon ship," traffic control said. 
 
 The Sewol answered: "It's difficult for the passengers to move now." 
 
 (Additional reporting by Jungmin Jang, Se Young Lee, Joyce Lee and Miyoung Kim; Writing by Nick Macfie; Editing by Robert Birsel)
– Members of the sunken South Korean ferry's crew have been likened to "murderers," and two more were detained today, the BBC reports. But some of them, the AP notes, were actually heroes, survivors say. Four gave up their life jackets for passengers amid a shortage; others broke windows to drag would-be victims out of the ship. One refused to leave until she got students to safety and was later found dead. Says the wife of another, who's still missing: "His last words were, 'I'm on my way to save the kids.'" Meanwhile, the number of victims continues to rise and now stands at 108, the BBC notes. Families have agreed that after two more days of searching the rescue operation can become a salvage effort; authorities today set up an underwater robot to help haul up the ship. Relatives are acknowledging that it's unlikely any more will be rescued. "It's been too long already. The bodies must be decayed," an uncle of one of the students tells the AP. In other news: One theory as to how the ship sank: It took a turn too sharply. Only two of 46 lifeboats were accessible because the ship tilted so much, the BBC and NBC News report. The ship's initial distress call came from a frightened boy who called the emergency number 119. "Save us! We're on a ship and I think it's sinking," he reportedly said. Afterward, about 20 more children called 119. Many child survivors may need therapy following the disaster. "We're considering sending about 20% of the patients to a psychiatric clinic with consent from themselves and their parents in the judgment that they require constant intervention," says a hospital chief, via Yonhap. Classes at their school are set to resume this week.