Some crew showed bravery
Pulled many to safety, gave up life-jackets
MOKPO, SOUTH KOREA — As the ferry sank, some crew members gave their life-jackets to passengers. One who refused to leave until she shepherded students off the ship was later found dead. Others worked from rescue boats to break windows with hammers and pull people trapped in cabins to safety.
But the public verdict against the crew of the Sewol has been savage. “Cowards!” social media users howled. “Unforgivable, murderous,” President Park Geun-hye said of the captain and part of the crew.
Some, including the captain, fled the ferry, but not all. At least seven of the 29 crew members are missing or dead, and several of those who survived stayed to help passengers.
“His last words were, ‘I’m on my way to save the kids,’” Ahn So-hyun said of her husband, missing crew member Yang Dae-hong, who talked with her by cellphone as the ship began to sink April 16.
He was referring to 323 students among the 476 people on the ferry.
Many South Koreans are enraged at what they consider a botched rescue, lashing out at the captain.
Captain Lee Joon-seok told passengers to stay in their cabins as the ferry filled with water, then took at least a half-hour to order an evacuation. He apparently left on one of the first rescue boats.
But passengers recall bravery from some crew. Koo Bon-hee, 36, said there weren’t enough life-jackets on the floor where he and others waited. Crew — two men and two women — gave theirs to passengers.
One of the first bodies recovered was crew member Park Ji-young, 22, who helped students evacuate. Witnesses said she told students crew members must stay on board until everyone else leaves.
Helmsman Oh Yong-seok, 57, said he and four crew worked from boats to smash ferry windows, dragging six passengers stuck in cabins to safety. Oh said a first mate — who is detained — directed rescuers as they pulled passengers onto boats.
“We did hard work, but no media are talking about that,” he said. “Instead, they say all crew members fled.”