By Alex Jensen
SEOUL
More than 100 passengers and five crew had to be rescued from a sightseeing ship off South Korea’s southwest coast on Tuesday morning – in an incident reminiscent of April’s Sewol ferry disaster.
The 171-ton Vacance hit a rock and ran aground near the island of Hongdo shortly after 9 a.m., according to local coast guard officials.
Only 70 kilometers or so away, the Sewol ferry had capsized on the morning of April 16 – leaving more than 300 people dead or missing.
A month later President Park Geun-hye announced that the Korea Coast Guard would be dismantled.
At least 10 people were being treated for injuries among the 110 rescued Tuesday.
While the future of the coast guard appears to be uncertain, spokesperson Oh Eun-seok told reporters that “the cause of the accident is still under investigation.”
The 27-year-old Vacance passed a safety inspection just a day after the Sewol disaster.
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