16 April 2014

Oops is, yet again, a Korean word


The BBC has an article about another transportation disaster for Korea:
Several hundred people remain unaccounted for after a ferry carrying 476 people capsized and sank off South Korea.
The ferry, carrying mainly school students, was traveling from the port of Incheon, in the north-west, to the southern resort island of Jeju. A major rescue effort is under way, using dozens of ships and helicopters.
Several hours after the disaster, at least 290 people remained missing, local media said.
South Korean officials had earlier said that 368 people had been plucked to safety, but later said there had been a counting error. They have now revised down the number rescued to about 180, Yonhap news agency reported.
Two people are known to have died and at least thirteen others have been injured, reports say. Images showed the ferry listing at a severe angle and then later almost completely submerged, with only a small part of its hull visible.
Several coast guard, military, and commercial vessels were involved in the rescue effort, which unfolded rapidly. Pictures from the scene showed rescue teams balanced on the sinking hull pulling teenagers from cabin windows. Some of their classmates jumped into the sea as the ship went down. Reports suggest some of those rescued were picked up by nearby commercial vessels.
Navy divers were now searching the scene for those unaccounted for, officials said. The US Navy was also reported to be sending a ship to assist.
One body, of a female crew member, had been recovered from the ship, the Coast Guard said. Another person, a high school student, died after being rescued.
One student told local media her friends became trapped. "Currently, I am in the middle of being rescued. At the time, the ship was turning on its side, and none of us were moving as we were told not to move as it was dangerous," the unnamed student said. "So I am not well aware of the situation, but I am told that my friends and other friends could not escape as the passage was blocked. It seems that there are many students who could not get out as the passage was blocked by water."
The ferry, named Sewol, was travelling from Incheon to Jeju Island, a route it serves twice a week. The 146m-long vessel has a capacity of about nine hundred people but was carrying about five hundred people, The passengers include about three hundred students from Danwon High School in Ansan, a suburb of Seoul, South Korea.
It is not yet clear what caused the incident, but witnesses described hearing an impact, before the ship listed and quickly sank. One passenger told the YTN news channel: "We heard a big thumping sound and the boat stopped. The boat is tilting and we have to hold on to something to stay seated," the passenger said.
Another passenger said the ship was "shaking and tilting", with people tripping and bumping into each other. Weather conditions were described as fine.
News agencies said the ferry had sent out a distress signal about twelve miles off the island of Byungpoong at about 0900 local time.
Many of the passengers were students from a high school heading off on a four-day field trip to Jeju. Angry parents have gathered at the school in Incheon to demand answers, reports the BBC's Lucy Williamson in Seoul.
Earlier reports put the number of passengers on the ferry at about 350. The vessel is reported to have a capacity of up to nine hundred people.
Rico says they won't have all the planes and ships working, like for Flight 370, but it looks like another Costa Concordia-style clusterfuck...

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