Did you hear?
My friend asked me early in
the morning when I was sitting in my lab. Do you know about the Sewol ferry
disaster? And my response was quite surprising, how is this possible?? You
might be joking. But usually we don’t have this kind of jokes. This was big
news, living in Korea since 03 years I believe this was the biggest tragedy of
the decade. One reason of my surprise was that Korea is such an advanced nation
and a panic situation like this must not be expected to occur on technical
basis. At the same time I was expecting a very quick recovery of all the lives.
I made a status on Facebook and get a reply from a friend that all the
personals on desk are recovered and there is no casualty. That was good news
for me and I thought, this is because of the advancement in technology and
their strong nerves in moments of panic. However that was my wrong perception
as I came to know later on that the drowned ferry was carrying 476 passengers,
out of which 339 were children and teachers from Danwaon high school, Ansan and
most of them are with still inside the drowned ship. With the passage of every
single day since the disaster, new information about the ferry astonished every
one with the number of drowned persons and their stories. The stories narrated
by the survived people and the messages and phone called received by the
families from the trapped high school students made every one sad.
There are a number of tales
that brought tears into my eyes. Some of the crew members sacrificed their
lives to help the passengers to the rescue their lives. They stand over there
distributing life jackets and struggling to liberate as many lives and possible
until the last moment of ferry of disappearance from the sky face. Some friends
presented their life jackets to their beloved ones to illustrate their love and
respect for them. Some other couple tied their hands to stay together till
their last breath. I was deeply moved by the text message that a boy send to
his mother saying, “Mama I love you so much” and in reply the mother said I
love you too, who was unaware at that time that her son was trapped in a life
and death struggle. Luckily that boy was among those who were rescued.
Another 16 years old student
send a frantic and heart breaking text message to his ether brother that the
ship is over turned on 45 degree and that his mobile is not working properly.
His bother replied that he is sure help will be on their way. His brother
advised him to follow the instructions of the caption of ferry without knowing
that the captain has already left the ferry. This was the most tragic act of
the day that the captain of the sinking ferry was the first one who left the
ferry sinking, such a shame on him. . The young soul was unable to survive like
the other 278 passengers of the ferry leaving behind a big question mark on the
technological advancement of Korea. The emotional and touchy words of 18 years
young girl Shin made me senseless as she wrote her father, “Dad, don’t worry I
am wearing a life jacket and I am with other girls. The anxious father replied
try to get out of the mess but he was too late to reply as she was among the
dead ones. A boy and girl stuck in the ferry tangled their life jacket cords
together, superficially so they wouldn't float apart. The diver who find their
dead bodies, had to separate the two because he could not carry two corpses up to
the surface at the same time, he said, ”I started to cry thinking that they
didn't want to leave each other,"
Many unspoken stories related
to the riders of the drowned ferry are still to be discovered which are saved
in the memories of their beloved ones and those who left forever leaving behind
many questions like who is responsible for the ferry disaster??? What are the
main reasons for this happening??What exactly happened at 9 AM with the
ferry??? All these questions may be
answered or not but the lives of those who died may never be bring back. There are many believes about the sunk ferry,
someone says, it was over loaded, some other says, it was because of the fault
of the technicians, some other says, the captain is responsible for all the
disaster. Time will decide about the real happening but the pain and agony may
never be forgotten.
Classes at the school resumed on Tuesday with sets of
flowers surrounding photos of each victim from Danwon high school. Fellow
students filed past, offering white chrysanthemums in somber tributes. Yellow
ribbons, with names and messages inscribed, were tied around a chain-link
fence. The suicide of the vice principle over this happening is an added pain
into the grief of Danwan high school. Ansan, where I live is embedded in deep
grieve and there is not a single man who is not feeling the pain of all the
effected families.
Thousands of people joined the ceremonies and gatherings arranged
in the memories of the departed souls all around the Korea on public places to
express their heartache and sorrow over this disaster. There are many
congregations of prayers for the return of all those who are still missing.
People of different age including parents, male and females, kids, government
officials, national and international tourists joined the gatherings of
mourning. They are writing on yellow
ribbons and fixing them on roads, bridges, public and government place. Since I
am living in Ansan and the Danwon high school is nearby my home I just went to
a big gathering in front of the school and in the football stadium near Gojan.
It was very sad to see the families of the departed ones, it remind me the
moment when I suddenly lost my mother as she died of heart attack. But the grief
of these families was even greater as most of them are unable to recognize
their bodies.
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The government of Korea has accepted their fault of being
unable to complete the rescue operations in a proper manner and well in time.
The Prime minister has resigned from his post considering himself a responsible
for not handling this matter in a proper way. I don’t what will be the ultimate
effects of this happenings on the public and private sector life but Korea need
to reconsider the priorities of the day and to insure the safety of their
people in times of panic and in general. No doubt very one living in Korea has
feel the pain of this disaster and showed their solidarity with the victim
families. May the souls of the departed ones rest in peace. Ameen
Photo Curtsy: AFP/Gallery Images /Google Images
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