(Bloomberg) -- The captain of the South Korean ferry that sank in April was sentenced to 36 years in prison for not doing enough to save passengers in the country’s worst maritime disaster in more than four decades.
Judge Lim Joung Youb said Captain Lee Joon Seok, 69, could have saved many more lives had he tried to evacuate the passengers before abandoning ship. Lee was acquitted of homicide charges that could have brought a death sentence. Most of the victims were high school students on a class trip, and only 172 of the 476 people on board survived the April 16 sinking.
“Lee should have immediately ordered an evacuation,” Judge Lim said. “His neglecting to take measures to save the passengers resulted in numerous deaths as a devastating consequence and led many families to live in misery for the rest of their lives.”
Recommended For You
Want to continue reading?
Become a Free PropertyCasualty360 Digital Reader
Your access to unlimited PropertyCasualty360 content isn’t changing.
Once you are an ALM digital member, you’ll receive:
- Breaking insurance news and analysis, on-site and via our newsletters and custom alerts
- Weekly Insurance Speak podcast featuring exclusive interviews with industry leaders
- Educational webcasts, white papers, and ebooks from industry thought leaders
- Critical converage of the employee benefits and financial advisory markets on our other ALM sites, BenefitsPRO and ThinkAdvisor
Already have an account? Sign In Now
© Touchpoint Markets, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more inforrmation visit Asset & Logo Licensing.
