Comment on Rescuers rush to reach hundreds in SKorean ferry

Rescuers rush to reach hundreds in SKorean ferry

New questions were raised by a transcript of a ship-to-shore exchange and interviews by The Associated Press that showed the captain delayed the evacuation for half an hour after a South Korean transportation official told the ship it might have to evacuate. Divers worked in shifts to try to get into the sunken vessel, where most of the missing passengers are thought to be trapped, said coast guard spokesman Kim Jae-in. Coast guard officials said divers began pumping air into the ship Friday in an attempt to sustain any survivors. South Korea's Yonhap news agency reported that the third mate was a 26-year-old with a year of experience steering ships and five months on the Sewol. Kim, the coast guard spokesman, said three vessels with cranes arrived and would help with the rescue and to salvage the ferry, which sank not far from the southern city of Mokpo. Kim Soo-hyun, a senior coast guard official, said officials were investigating whether the captain got on one of the first rescue boats. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the person was not allowed to discuss matters under investigation, said the extension work between October 2012 and February 2013 increased the Sewol's weight by 187 tons and added enough room for 117 more people. Oh Yong-seok, a helmsman on the ferry with 10 years of shipping experience, told AP that when the crew gathered on the bridge and sent a distress call, the ship was already listing more than 5 degrees, the critical angle at which a vessel can be brought back to even keel. A crew member then tried to reach a lifeboat but fell because the vessel was tilting, prompting the first mate to suggest to the captain that he order an evacuation, Oh said.

 

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