This story sounds like one of my worst nightmares. To me, a ferry ride seems totally safe. Even if it were to start sinking surely nobody ever dies on a ferry, right? That is not the case in South Korea. 87 people are already confirmed dead and 215 others remain missing. What is even worse is most of the passengers were high school students.
When the ferry began to sink the captain of the ship, Lee Jon-Seok delayed evacuation because he felt rescue ships would not arrive and the water would be too cold. Now he and six other crewmembers have been detained and considered murderers. When the ferry went down many passengers were still in their rooms, under the captain’s orders. Now search and rescue has sent divers in to find missing people.
They believe the boat sank as a result of a turn taken too sharply which caused the boast to list. When the captain finally made the call to evacuate several crewmembers have said they were unsure as to whether the message was relayed to passengers in the chaos of the situation.
The principal of the high school on board, Kang Min-kyu, that was in charge of the overnight trip for the students committed suicide after the accident. Families of the students are waiting impatiently while government exaggerates the number of rescuers and failing to communicate what the families need to do.
It is a heartbreaking situation that is particularly sad especially after the missing Malaysian airplane, which is still missing, and now this.