Dereliction of Duty

A stunning allegation has been made in the South Korea tragedy that the captain was among the first people to abandon ship. If this is true, the captain's actions are beyond negligent. With so many teens aboard for the adult responsible for their safety to flee to save himself and leave them to the fate of drowning is a criminal act. It is unforgivable. Perhaps some of the more than two hundred missing have found air pockets in the stricken vessel and may yet be saved, but after all these hours have elapsed that does not seem likely. To read that passengers were ordered to remain where they were on the ship for thirty minutes after the event began and to read that only one lifeboat was deployed (the one the captain was on), while more than forty life vessels were available but not used to save others on the ferry is absolutely heartbreaking. If the allegations are true and hundreds have died needlessly, the ferry captain must never see the light of day as a free man again.