South Korea ferry mishap: Death toll reaches 50, families enraged by rescue ops
MOKPO, South Korea: Families of over 250 people, who are still missing after a ferry capsized at the sea off Jindo in South Korea, are furious with the pace of rescue efforts.
The officials said Divers had previously failed to enter the ferry because of extremely strong currents and bad visibility due to foul weather. They have yet to find any survivors in the ship.
After more than three days of frustration and failure, divers on Sunday finally found a way into a submerged ferry off South Korea's southern shore, discovering more than a dozen bodies inside the ship and pushing the confirmed death toll to 50.
The penetration by divers into the ferry follows the arrest of the captain on suspicion of negligence and abandoning people in need. Two crew members were also taken into custody, including a rookie third mate, who a prosecutor said was steering in challenging waters unfamiliar to her when the accident occurred.
‘Beginning late Saturday, when divers broke a window, and continuing into Sunday, multiple teams of divers have found various routes into the ferry. They have discovered bodies at different spots,’ coast guard official Koh Myung-seok said at a briefing. Thirteen bodies have been found in the ship, while other bodies were found floating outside.
Coast guard spokesman Kim Jae-in said that among the dead, 23 are students.
Meanwhile, on an island near the submerged ferry, about 200 police in neon jackets blocked about 100 relatives of missing passengers who had been walking on a main road in an effort to travel to the presidential Blue House in Seoul to voice their complaints to the president.
‘We want an answer from the person in charge about why orders are not going through and nothing is being done,' Lee Woon-geun, father of missing passenger Lee Jung-in, 17, said. ‘They are clearly lying and kicking the responsibility to others’, he added. The ferry’s captain, Lee Joon-seok, 68, was arrested along with one of the Sewol’s three helmsmen and the 25-year-old third mate, prosecutors said.
Lee while speaking to reporters on Saturday morning as he left the Mokpo Branch of Gwangju District Court, defended his much-criticized decision to wait for about 30 minutes before ordering an evacuation.
‘At the time, the current was very strong, the temperature of the ocean water was cold, and I thought that if people left the ferry without (proper) judgment, they would drift away and face many other difficulties,’ Lee said. ‘The rescue boats had not arrived yet, nor were there any civilian fishing ships or other boats nearby at that time', he added.
The Sewol had left the northwestern port of Incheon on Tuesday with 476 passengers on an overnight journey to the holiday island of Jeju in the south, including 323 students from Danwon High School in Ansan. It capsized within hours of the crew making a distress call to the shore a little before 9 am on Wednesday. Most of the missing passengers are believed to be trapped inside the 6,852-ton vessel.
With the chances of survival increasingly slim, it is shaping up to be one of South Korea's worst disasters. The loss is more keenly felt because of so many young people, aged 16 or 17, on board. The country's last major ferry disaster was in 1993, when 292 people were killed. By the time the evacuation order was issued, the ship was listing at too steep an angle for many people to escape the tight hallways and stairs inside. Several survivors told news agency The Associated Press that they never heard any evacuation order.
Senior prosecutor Yang Jung-jin told reporters that the third mate was steering the ship Wednesday morning as it passed through an area with lots of islands clustered close together and fast currents. According to investigators, the accident came at a point where the ship had to make a turn. Prosecutor Park Jae-eok said investigators were looking at whether the third mate ordered a turn so sharp that it caused the vessel to list.
Yang said the third mate has six months of experience, and hadn't steered in the area before because another mate usually handles those duties. She took the wheel this time because heavy fog caused a departure delay, Yang said, adding that investigators do not know whether the ship was going faster than usual. Helmsman Park Kyung-nam identified the third mate as Park Han-kyul.
According to the court, Lee faces five charges, including negligence of duty and violation of maritime law, and the two wother crew members each face three related charges. Agencies
The officials said Divers had previously failed to enter the ferry because of extremely strong currents and bad visibility due to foul weather. They have yet to find any survivors in the ship.
After more than three days of frustration and failure, divers on Sunday finally found a way into a submerged ferry off South Korea's southern shore, discovering more than a dozen bodies inside the ship and pushing the confirmed death toll to 50.
The penetration by divers into the ferry follows the arrest of the captain on suspicion of negligence and abandoning people in need. Two crew members were also taken into custody, including a rookie third mate, who a prosecutor said was steering in challenging waters unfamiliar to her when the accident occurred.
‘Beginning late Saturday, when divers broke a window, and continuing into Sunday, multiple teams of divers have found various routes into the ferry. They have discovered bodies at different spots,’ coast guard official Koh Myung-seok said at a briefing. Thirteen bodies have been found in the ship, while other bodies were found floating outside.
Coast guard spokesman Kim Jae-in said that among the dead, 23 are students.
Meanwhile, on an island near the submerged ferry, about 200 police in neon jackets blocked about 100 relatives of missing passengers who had been walking on a main road in an effort to travel to the presidential Blue House in Seoul to voice their complaints to the president.
‘We want an answer from the person in charge about why orders are not going through and nothing is being done,' Lee Woon-geun, father of missing passenger Lee Jung-in, 17, said. ‘They are clearly lying and kicking the responsibility to others’, he added. The ferry’s captain, Lee Joon-seok, 68, was arrested along with one of the Sewol’s three helmsmen and the 25-year-old third mate, prosecutors said.
Lee while speaking to reporters on Saturday morning as he left the Mokpo Branch of Gwangju District Court, defended his much-criticized decision to wait for about 30 minutes before ordering an evacuation.
‘At the time, the current was very strong, the temperature of the ocean water was cold, and I thought that if people left the ferry without (proper) judgment, they would drift away and face many other difficulties,’ Lee said. ‘The rescue boats had not arrived yet, nor were there any civilian fishing ships or other boats nearby at that time', he added.
The Sewol had left the northwestern port of Incheon on Tuesday with 476 passengers on an overnight journey to the holiday island of Jeju in the south, including 323 students from Danwon High School in Ansan. It capsized within hours of the crew making a distress call to the shore a little before 9 am on Wednesday. Most of the missing passengers are believed to be trapped inside the 6,852-ton vessel.
With the chances of survival increasingly slim, it is shaping up to be one of South Korea's worst disasters. The loss is more keenly felt because of so many young people, aged 16 or 17, on board. The country's last major ferry disaster was in 1993, when 292 people were killed. By the time the evacuation order was issued, the ship was listing at too steep an angle for many people to escape the tight hallways and stairs inside. Several survivors told news agency The Associated Press that they never heard any evacuation order.
Senior prosecutor Yang Jung-jin told reporters that the third mate was steering the ship Wednesday morning as it passed through an area with lots of islands clustered close together and fast currents. According to investigators, the accident came at a point where the ship had to make a turn. Prosecutor Park Jae-eok said investigators were looking at whether the third mate ordered a turn so sharp that it caused the vessel to list.
Yang said the third mate has six months of experience, and hadn't steered in the area before because another mate usually handles those duties. She took the wheel this time because heavy fog caused a departure delay, Yang said, adding that investigators do not know whether the ship was going faster than usual. Helmsman Park Kyung-nam identified the third mate as Park Han-kyul.
According to the court, Lee faces five charges, including negligence of duty and violation of maritime law, and the two wother crew members each face three related charges. Agencies