South Korean President Park Geun-Hye vowed to punish those responsible for the Sewol ferry tragedy when he met Sunday with relatives of the dead and missing passengers of the ill-fated boat that sank April 16.

The death toll in the ferry disaster had risen to 260 on Monday with the recovery of 11 more bodies while 46 remained unaccounted for, according to an announcement by the South Korean government.

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Addressing the grieving relatives of the passengers who remained missing, President Park said that those responsible for the accident and those who have criminal liability will be punished sternly.

The relatives have set up camp on Jindo, the island close to where the ferry went down.

The South Korean president said she feels a sense of limitless responsibility for the accident, and that her heart goes out to the relatives who are still awaiting word on the fate of their loved ones.

Television footage showed Park inspecting the tent village that had sprung near the harbor to check on the procedures in identifying the bodies recovered from the wreckage. It was the second time the president visited Jindo since the fateful accident on April 16.

The president's meeting with the families happened days after she made an apology for the government's inability to curb irregularities in the country's naval system, which may have led to the accident.

The Sewol ferry accident is considered one of the worst peacetime tragedies in South Korea.

The ferry was carrying 476 people, 325 of them high school students on their way to an island excursion, when it tipped over and sank.

Investigations later showed that the high casualty count was due to the crew's confusion and ineptness in handling standard evacuation procedures during the crucial hours of the accident.

Audio recordings showed that the passengers were ordered to remain in the boat instead of helping them into life jackets and jumping out to sea, where they might have had a bigger chance of being saved by rescue teams that had immediately swarmed the scene of the accident.

The captain was among the first to board the rescue boats. He and other crew members were arrested a few days after the accident.

TagsSewol Ferry tragedy