On April 16, 2014, the MV (Motor Vessel) Sewol en route to Jeju from Incheon capsized carrying 476 people, mostly secondary school students from Danwon High School in Ansan City. As of April 29, there are 174 survivors, 97 missing, and 205 deaths. There are many causes that are being looked into, but regardless of what caused the capsizing, what happened during the tragedy is far worse. Captain Lee Jun-seok was one of the first survivors off the ship, which is actually against the law as South Korean law explicitly states that the captain must remain on the ship during the disaster. It is also rumored that the captain ordered that the passengers should stay in their rooms instead of trying to evacuate before leaving himself. While the boat was capsizing, many of the children sent e-mails, texts, and calls to their loved ones. This isn’t the only incident like this. In 1993, the MV Seohae sank right outside of Wido, South Korea. It had 362 passengers and crew, 292 of which died. It makes you question if that captain was just as incompetent.
Korean Ferry Tragedy
Kevin Heimermann, Staff Writer
April 30, 2014
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About the Contributor
Kevin Heimermann, Variety Editor
Kevin Heimermann is a creative writing major at SMSU, and is currently the Variety Editor for the Spur.