Families of Sewol victims sue state, ferry company

Families of Sewol ferry tragedy victims on Wednesday filed a lawsuit against the government and the ferry company to seek compensation and urge the state to clearly investigate the cause of the accident.

Familes of 131 victims, including 20 survivors, sued the state and ferry operator Chonghaejin Marine Co. for compensation of 100 million won ($84,000) for each victim, totaling 13 billion won in compensation.

“It’s been 526 days since the tragedy took place, but nothing has been revealed so far. (We are) trying to concretely state the responsibility of the government and the company over their unfair post-treatment of the victims, as well as the cause of the tragedy and mishandling of the rescue operation,” said the families at the group memorial altar set up in Ansan, Gyeonggi Province.

“The families decided to do so in an aim to prevent similar accidents and make a safer society.”

Determining the compensation amount was difficult, as the cause of the accident has not been clearly revealed, the families added.

The ferry disaster on April 16 last year killed a total of 304 passengers, with nine still missing. Most of them were teenagers from a single high school in Ansan heading to Jejudo Island for a school trip.

By Lee Hyun-jeong (rene@heraldcorp.com)