Jindo Island, South Korea, is now yet another stage where a horrifying scene unfolds. Coast guard workers carry bodies recovered from the sea one by one to tents on the island’s dock, where grieving families wait for news of their missing loved ones. They wait for the inevitable, as death tolls rise in wake of the the tragic South Korean ferry accident on April 16th.
The ferry Sewol sank while on route to popular tourist destination, Jeju Island. According to the South Korean Ministry of Security and Public Administration, there were 459 people on board, the majority of whom were high school students on a field trip. So far, over 150 people have been confirmed dead, and more than 100 passengers are still missing after this devastating accident.
Divers continue a valiant effort to reach the submerged vessel, and authorities insist that theirs is still a search and rescue mission. 174 people, mostly high school students, were rescued shortly after the ferry’s sinking, but no survivors have been found since. While rescue operations proceed, officials have turned to investigating the cause of the accident.
Criticism first landed on the captain and some crew members, whose negligence South Korean President Park Geun-hye said was “akin to murder”. Both captain and certain crew are faced with charges of violating maritime law after allegedly abandoning ship before adequately helping passengers. The captain’s decision to keep passengers on board after the ferry began sinking was a probable cause of the high death toll; most of the survivors were students that jumped off the ferry immediately after it started sinking. Another possibly incriminating fact is that the inexperienced 3rd mate was steering the ship when Sewol began sinking. The captain, at the time, remained in his cabin. According to Korea Herald, the captain will likely face a life sentence in prison. More crew members and ship engineers await further questioning by authorities.
But pointing fingers and assigning blame is currently a far lesser concern for those involved in the Sewol accident. As rescue efforts continue over a week after the sinking, families begin to lose hope that they will see their children or loved ones alive. Now, their wish is merely that the recovered bodies have not been damaged too much by the ocean.
Woo Dong-suk, an uncle of one of the missing students, said, “It’s been too long already. The bodies must be decayed. The parents’ only [desire] right now is to find the bodies before they are badly decomposed.”
This is the chilling reality of South Korea’s worst maritime accident since 1993. The world’s hearts go out to the families of the missing as we hope such an incident never occurs again.
