Relatives wait in confusion

Anger brews as families see gov’t missteps

Associated Press

JINDO, South Korea — The informal briefing by a South Korean coast guard rescuer started calmly enough. He stood on a stage in front of relatives of those missing from a sunken ferry, explaining how divers trying to find their loved ones are hampered by poor visibility and can venture only so deep.

Less than an hour later, Saturday’s meeting had unraveled. A few dozen relatives rose from the gymnasium f loor and surged toward the stage, hurling rapid-fire questions — and a thick, rolled-up wad of paper — at the officials, who stood with heads bowed. One man tried to choke a coast guard lieutenant and punch a maritime policeman, but missed.

The exchange illustrated how relatives of about 270 people missing have grown increasingly exasperated and distrusting of South Korean authorities, in part because of confusion, early missteps and perceived foot-dragging. For days, they have dealt with shock, fear and bewilderment. They have briefly been buoyed by new ideas about how to find survivors, changes in death counts and the number of missing — even rumors of contact with trapped relatives — only to be let down later.

The seeds of distrust were planted Wednesday, the day the ferry sank with 476 people aboard, 323 of them from a single high school in Ansan. Thirtythree bodies have been found, and 174 people survived the disaster.

The high school initially sent parents text messages saying all of the students had been rescued.

Lee Byung-soo, whose son was aboard the ferry, was relieved by the text. He called the maritime police to ask whether there were enough life jackets for all of the students, and whether the water was very cold. The answer, he said, added to his confusion.

“They said all the students were wearing life jackets. When I asked more, they told me to get information from a briefing later,” said Lee, a truck driver.

It was only when he arrived at the gymnasium that he realized his son, 15-year-old Lee Seok-Joon, had not been saved. “I had to check every picture of the face of the rescued students before I realized that my son was not there,” he said.

“The students were killed because the crew members and teachers and adults told them to crawl in the cabin and stay,” Lee said, weeping as he spoke in the gymnasium.

The ferry’s captain — who was arrested Saturday along with two crew members — has drawn criticism for waiting about 30 minutes to order an evacuation, by which time the boat had listed so steeply many could not escape. Relatives also are angry over the government’s response.

Sunday, officials said divers recovered 13 bodies from inside the ferry, raising the confirmed death toll to 46, officials said Sunday. The discovery came after rescuers finally got inside the ship.