Sewol Revelations

[Anchor Lead]

One of the vexing questions about the Sewol ferry tragedy four years ago is why the ship sank so quickly. The investigation has revealed that all of the ferry’s major watertight doors were open at the time of the sinking. Authorities say probe will likely be needed to find out why.

[Pkg]

The severely damaged remains of the Sewol ferry is the only vestige of the horrible tragedy. The very first level of the ship, where the engine room is located, has holes where watertight devices are supposed to be to prevent water from entering the vessel during accidents. Watertight doors near the engine room must be closed at all times, but all of the watertight doors in the Sewol ferry's engine room area were found to be open. Ten hatches in the freight section on the first level were also open. The question is why were all water-sealing devices open? This photo obtained by KBS shows the control button in the steering house that automatically opens and closes watertight doors in the engine room area. There is also a lamp that turns on when the doors are open. At the time of the sinking, the captain and eight crew members were in the steering house. But none of them made sure to close the watertight doors.

[Soundbite] Chung Sung-wook(Sewol Ferry Bereaved Family Council) : "We must investigate the crew about why they left the watertight doors open and whether those who are responsible checked everything properly."

An additional investigation into the shipwreck as well as the captain and the crew is now inevitable.