Sewol Vessel was carrying overload during the accident

New reports have revealed that the South Korean Sewol vessel was carrying a load which tripled the recommended the day it crashed off the coast of the country, reported the Yonhap news agency citing sources from the research team of the Prosecutor´s office and the police.

According to the report cited by the DPA agency, the ship was carrying 3,608 tons of cargo, including 108 vehicles on April 16, when it overturned after making a turn and sank on its way from the port city of Incheon to the Jeju Island.

The `Sewol´ had 476 people on board, of which 263 have been confirmed dead and 39 are still missing; most victims were high school students who were on excursion.

But this was not the first fault: Since March 2013 the ferry sailed regularly with overload in more than half of its 241 travels to increase the profits, the report said.