ARIRANG NEWS 16:00 Latest on Korean ferry disaster

We start with the latest on the Sewol-ho ferry disaster... now in day 17. The confirmed death toll now stands at 226 with 76 still unaccounted for. For the latest on the search operation and the ongoing investigation... we hve our Kim Ji-yeon joining us from the News Center... How is the search operation progressing? There are growing concerns the bodies of the victims might never be found as some of them were found being carried away from the accident site. One body presumed to be of a female student was found four kilometers away from the ferry earlier today. Two days ago, another body was found 2 kilometers northeast of the accident site, which is the opposite direction from the one found today. So it's hard to predict which way the bodies might be carried away. Also raising concerns is that victims' belongings have been found as far as 30 kilometers away from the Sewol-ho, which means the search area may need to be expanded. The task force says it's focused on preventing the loss of the victims' bodies and will intensify its search with the help of more than 2-hundred fishing boats near Jindo island. Layers of nets were installed a week after the accident site and will continue to be used during the on-going search operations. Besides that, divers are searching open cabins as well as using special equipment to open blocked sections. They were to complete their search in open cabins in the first phase of the search and then move on their second phase of the search. But upon the request from the families of the missing passengers,... they are trying to get through blocked sections... where many of the passengers still missing are believed to be trapped. Ji-yeon, give us an update on the ongoing investigation. The state authorities are increasingly closing in to those related to the practical owner of the ferry company Yoo Byung-eon ... to find business irregularities that may have contributed to the ferry sinking. The local courts held an investigation to determine the validity of the arrest warrants of two senior employees of Chonghaejin Marine Company earlier on Friday... for negligence. One of the employee who was in charge of the cargo admitted repeatedly to reporters' questions... that the accumulation of too much cargo onto the ferry has contributed to the sinking of the ferry. The joint investigative team says more than 3-thousand 6-hundred tons of cargo was loaded onto the Sewol-ho ferry on April 16th... three times more than it's capacity. Some key figures in connection to Yoo Byung-eon including his brother-in-law... refused to answer the summons for questioning earlier today. This is the second time Yoo's brother-in-law Yoo Hyeok-gi , who has permanent residency in the United States, has refused to answer to the summons related to the ferry sinking. The prosecutors gave a new deadline for Yoo Hyeok-gi to answer to the summons by next Thursday. The prosecutors say that this is an ultimatum and if he does not answer this time, they will proceed with "necessary measures"... although they did not specify what those measures might be.