Passengers rescued one another in the Shinan Ferry grounding accident

Passengers wearing life jackets await rescue inside the Queen Zenobia II, which ran aground on Jukdo Island, an uninhabited islet in Jangsan-myeon, Shinan-gun, South Jeolla Province, on the night of November 19. / Yonhap News

On November 20, Lee Sang-don (64), a victim of the Shinan passenger ferry grounding, vividly recalled the urgent moments of the previous night as we met him at a hospital in Mokpo, South Jeolla Province.

Lee said he had been lying in a shared cabin when he suddenly felt a powerful jolt that shook his entire body. Hearing a loud thud, he sat up to see what had happened. A second jolt threw him off balance, sending him crashing to the floor and injuring his back. A third impact tilted the floor, causing overhead luggage to spill out all at once. People in their bunks collided and slid to the floor, while others clung to the walls to stay upright. Screams and cries filled the cabin.

Amid the chaos, it was the passengers who acted first. Strangers helped one another, pulling out life vests for children and the elderly and assisting those who had fallen or been hurt. A middle-aged woman approached Lee, who could barely move, supported him by the arm, and handed him a life vest. “I can still hear her saying, ‘Let’s go together,’” he said. “Even though my body wasn’t responding, she never let go of my hand and helped me all the way. Thinking about it still makes me choke up.”

The announcement over the loudspeaker came only 10 to 20 minutes after the accident. By then, many passengers had already put on their life vests. Younger passengers moved between cabins and corridors, checking whether others had tightened theirs properly and adjusting straps one by one. A middle-aged man with a strong Jeolla accent reassured panicked passengers, saying, “I’ve been on boats for over ten years. This is nothing. Don’t worry. This ship won’t go down easily.” Nearby, a woman held and calmed a crying child in his parents’ arms.

Mr. A, a man in his 70s hospitalized in the same ward as Lee, also escaped thanks to fellow passengers. During the third impact, he was thrown about a meter forward and fell to the floor. After striking the edge of a shelf, a large suitcase dropped from above, delivering a heavy blow to his lower back and hips. His companions helped him to the hallway, but when they reached the steep staircase, his body stiffened so completely that he could not take another step.

At that moment, a young man approached, bent his knees, and offered his back. He carried Mr. A down the three-to-four-story staircase without a single wobble, repeatedly checking his condition. “Are you okay?” “I’ll go slowly,” and adjusting his pace accordingly. “I absolutely couldn’t have gotten down on my own,” Mr. A said. “I couldn’t even see his face clearly, but thanks to that young man, I made it here.” Mr. A now has difficulty walking and uses a wheelchair.

At the Samhak Pier passenger terminal parking lot, where the ferry was salvaged that day, survivors shared similar accounts: “People helped each other fasten life vests,” and “The orderliness was amazing.” Mr. Kim, a man in his 40s holding his child’s hand, said, “It felt so urgent that it could be our last day. I still can’t believe how people found the courage to help others in that situation.”

Yet many victims expressed discontent with the ferry operator’s follow-up response. One injured passenger said, “From the moment of the accident to when I arrived at the hospital, there was no contact or check-in from the ferry company.” The child of Mr. A, who rushed down from Gyeonggi Province, added, “My mother needs a caregiver due to her condition, but no one has told us who we’re supposed to talk to about this.”

※This article was translated by an AI tool and edited by a professional translator.