By Miriam Raftery
May 3, 2014 (Alpine)—When Alpine resident Alanna Light heard about the tragic sinking of a Korean ferry boat, she feared for her 24-year-old daughter, who teaches English at a private school in South Korea.
“My dad called me and asked if Kalya was alright,” she recalled, adding that when she heard about the tragedy, “I had a panic attack until I got through to her.” Fortunately, Kayla was fine. But at least 242 passengers on the Sewol ferry have died and another 60 remain missing. Most of the passengers were high school students.
The captain and 14 crew members have been arrested for leaving the ship and abandoning passengers, including children told to stay in their cabins. Two others have also been arrested for over-loading the ship, which had 476 people on board.
