An appellate court on Wednesday ordered the state to pay compensation to survivors of the deadly 2014 sinking of the Sewol Ferry and their family members, maintaining a lower court's decision to hold the state accountable for the tragedy.

The Seoul High Court ruled partially in favor of the 55 survivors and their families, ordering compensation to be paid out by the state and Cheonghaejin Marine, the shipping company that owned the Sewol, to pay 80 million won or around 60-thousand U.S. dollars each to most of the survivors.

The court acknowledged the initial trial's compensation ruling, but also increased the amount by two-point-two million won, or over one-thousand-600 U.S. dollars, to 40 million won, or around 30-thousand U.S. dollars each.

The plaintiffs additionally argued for compensation for secondary harm caused by military security guards’ inspections at the appeals court, but the claim was dismissed.