The President of South Korea Park Geun-hye has categorically linked the sunken ferry incident as a murder. She said in her press briefing that crew members and captain were responsible for the lives lost in the sunken Sewol. Besides, Lee Joon-seok the captain of this ship is already facing the premeditated murder charges.
It goes without saying that, so far 87 passengers – most of the high school students- have been reportedly died whereas 215 people are still missing. On the other hand, the President of South Korea issued a statement that “the actions of few crew members and captain of the ship are unforgettable and unacceptable and they are akin to murder”. Park further said that their actions have put the entire South Korea in the rage and they are murderers of Korean citizens.
Apart from this, Korean police holds the opinion that the investigation of this incident is underway and so far 7 crew members have been detained. The investigators told to local media reporters that “we are probing that how the ship changed its course and why did the captain not allow for abandoning the ferry?” They further said that criminals will be dealt severely and we are trying our best to gather some constructive evidences.
Besides, a radio transcript released by authorities claimed that students could not be able to reach lifeboats because the ship had speedily tilted.
When the ship was sinking the following conversation took place between the crew members and two different towers:
A crew member informed to authorities that “Our ship is sinking, please inform to Cost Guards for support”. In reply to this message, the center advised to the crew members “Please evacuate the ship”. The crew replied “It is speedily rolling, people cannot move so it is impossible”. Furthermore, the center told the crew members that “the captain should take the decision to make passengers escape and take the charge of crisis”.
The captain of the ship did not take any decision. Rather, he asked to all passengers not to jump in the water until rescue boats did not arrive. Upon this, maritime law attorney Jack Hickey said that the captain had violated Seamen’s law by leaving the passengers in the lurch. He further said that as per international laws and regulations, the captain has to remain in ship until all passengers and personnel are not rescued.