South Korea ferry to Jeju capsized with hundreds of passengers missing
Another shocking news received this morning from Korea. A South Korea ferry to Jeju capsized on Wednesday morning, 17th April 2014. More than 280 people, many of them students from the same high school, were still missing at the time of writing this post. It could be the country’s biggest maritime disaster in over 20 years.
The Saewol-ho ferry started to sink this morning hours ago, some 20 kilometers off the coast of Jindo Island in southwestern Korea. Reportedly, the passenger multi-storey ferry was carrying some 470 people, with 320 of the passengers on board the ferry were teenagers and teachers from a high school near Seoul. They were on a 4-day field trip to Jeju island, about 100 km (60 miles) south of the Korean peninsula.
Only 174 have been rescued thus far. 4 people were confirmed dead, but the figure could escalate after rescue operation continued late into the night and those 284 missing passengers are still unaccounted for. More than 60 ships including twenty naval vessels, helicopters and aircraft are actively searching for survivors, along with around 160 scuba divers.
The cause of the incident is still not clear right now, but officials say there’s a high possibility that the passenger ship ran into a rock due to foggy weather. At the site of the crash, waters are reportedly 37-meters deep with lots of rocks in the area.
The people who were rescued say they heard a loud bang before the ship started showing signs of trouble.
The ferry route is very popular among local people and foreign visitors who are planning to visit Jeju Island. I did explore the same ferry ride option when I planned my trip to Jeju Island, but dropped the idea when Busan Air offered cheaper and quicker mode of transport.
Disasters and tragedies keep happening these days in all over the world. After the vanished MAS MH370 flights which is still clueless where it is after 40 days, we have this sunken Korean ferry, with about the same number of people still unaccounted for. Let’s pray for the survivors…
Will the supposed strong trends of world traveling slump this year? We shall see… – Travel Feeder
About The Author
Cecil Lee
The author is an avid traveler and photography hobbyist who loves to share with others his travel and photo-taking experience in many popular tourist destinations around Europe, Asia and Australasia. Read the exciting stories with many photos captured on his journeys.
