|
 The boy, with the family name of Choi, called the emergency 119
number which put him through to the fire service, which in turn
forwarded him to the coastguard two minutes later. That was followed
by about 20 other calls from children to the emergency number, a
fire service officer told Reuters.
The Sewol ferry sank on April 16 on a routine trip south from the
port of Incheon to the traditional holiday island of Jeju.
More than 300 people, most of them students and teachers from one
high school on a field trip, have died or are missing and presumed
dead. The children were told to stay put in their cabins, where they
waited for further orders.
They paid for their obedience with their lives. The confirmed death
toll on Saturday was 187.
Choi's body was found on Wednesday, a week after the sinking, at the
back of the fourth deck.
"I was so angry at the reality that all I can do is look at the sea
and pray, but I am so grateful that he has been found and he is
back," his father told the Kukmin Ilbo newspaper.
"If only he had been wearing a life jacket, I wouldn't be this
heartbroken... He didn't have time to call his mum and dad... He
reported it to 119 and he's back now. I am so proud of him."
Grieving parents were taken by a smaller ferry to the sunken vessel
on the day after the disaster, wrapped in blankets against the wind
and rain.
A witness quoted one mother crying to the sky: "It's my child's
tears."
"I DON'T MIND DYING"
When the smaller ferry reached the scene of the tragedy, all the
parents rushed to the right side to look for Sewol's capsized hull,
obscured by mist, causing the smaller boat to list as well, with
waves splashing the deck, the witness said.
"Move to the left," a crew member shouted through a loud speaker.
"We need to have balance."
The parents responded with cries of "I don't mind dying" and "let me
jump in". One woman shouted: "My child is in that cold water."
Another mother was berating herself for making her daughter go on
the field trip when she didn't want to. She said she would commit
suicide if her child's body was found.
"What makes me really mad is... what kind of school leaves for a
field trip at 9 p.m.? At night? Is there any school like that in the
entire country? Taking 12-13 hours..? and they had to wait three or
four hours before the boat could leave? I want to kill everyone.
There is no meaning to my life anymore."
[to top of second column] |
Captain Lee Joon-seok, 69, and other crew members who abandoned ship
have been arrested on negligence charges. Lee was also charged with
undertaking an "excessive change of course without slowing down".
Investigators are seeking arrest warrants for four senior crew,
media said. Eleven have already been detained.
Prosecutors on Saturday raided multiple places including the office
of an accountant who deals with Chonghaejin Marine Co. Ltd., the
company that operated the Sewol.
Prosecutors have also raided the home of Yoo Byung-un, 73, the head
of a family that owns the Chonghaejin. They seized another ferry run
by the company and found that life rafts and escape chutes were not
working properly.
Yoo, a photographer who also goes by the name of AHAE, expressed his
"profound sadness" at the sinking, a statement released by Ahae
Press, which markets his work said, stressing that Yoo did not have
any stake in the company.
"While the Korean authorities investigating the ferry tragedy have
issued a travel ban for 30 to 40 officials associated with
Chonghaejin ownership, including members of the Yoo family, this
blanket approach is standard for investigations by Korean
regulators," the statement said.
(Additional reporting by Ju-min Park;
writing by Nick Macfie; editing by Kim Coghill)
[© 2014 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.] Copyright 2014 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
 |
