Maybe School Children Drowning Deaths in South Korea Ferry Disaster Caused by Something Other Than an Accident

South Korean Ferry Sunk with 300 Children Aboard

At what point does the sheer magnitude of cowardice, greed, graft and  incompetence involved in precipitating a tragedy make it something for which the word "accident" no longer applies?  Parceling out blame will not bring a single one of those drowned South Korean children back to life. But maybe it will
contribute to the kind of soul-searching that might prevent such accidents in the future.  When his ferry began to list to the side, Captain  Lee Joon-seok, 68, hopped on the only life boat, while the second in command instructed 300 school children, who were traveling on a school trip,  to remain below deck.  The children waited for two hours before the ship sank. Divers have still not recovered most of their bodies because of the odd position of the wreckage and fast currents.

The communications officer was stymied because he hadn't gotten around to reading the safety manual. Thus he awaited an evacuation order from the Captain, which was not forthcoming because the Captain was in the lifeboat, pretending to be a regular passenger, according to the Doctor who examined passengers as they reached shore.

The ferry may also have been overloaded. According to the Chinese news agency Xinhua :

"The vessel was loaded with 180 cars and trucks and 1,157 tons of freight, far exceeding the reported figure of 150 vehicles and 657 tons of goods respectively."

 It is true that a series of safety checks had been performed by the Korean Register of Shipping.  The ferry, named the "Sewol" passed all of these safety tests, including one which showed that it would stabilize immediately were it to capsize.  However, as it turns out, the safety check was paid for by the owner of the ferry company.

The curse of the Internet is that I'm sucked into grieving a heartbreaking tragedy, which I might not even have known about before the World Wide Web.  And what it also means is that I will paying special attention to whether everyone involved in this ghastly tragedy is swiftly brought to justice.

RELATED POST:  What was South Korean Government Doing to Save 300 Schoolchildren WHILE Ferry Sinking Not After?