Rescued South Korean school vice-principal in apparent suicide
Police say body of Kang Min-Kyu found near gymnasium where relatives of the missing 268 people are staying.
Coast guard members search for passengers near a South Korean ferry that capsized on its way to Jeju island in Jindo on April 17, 2014. PHOTO: AFP/FILE
JINDO:
A high school vice-principal rescued from a sinking South Korean ferry that sank with hundreds of his students on board was found dead Friday, police said, in an apparent suicide.
Local police on Jindo island said the body of vice-principal Kang Min-Kyu, 52, was found near the gymnasium where relatives of the 268 people still missing from the ferry disaster have been staying.
Police said the cause of death was still under investigation, but multiple local media reports said he had been found hanging by his belt from a tree.
Yonhap news agency said police found a suicide note in Kang's wallet that cited his sense of guilt at having survived the disaster.
"Surviving alone is too painful... I take full responsibility. I pushed ahead with the school trip," Yonhap quoted the note as saying.
Of the 475 people on board the ferry when it capsized Wednesday morning, 352 were students from Danwon High School in Ansan city just south of Seoul.
They were taking the ferry for a school excursion to the popular southern resort island of Jeju.
The vice-principal was among 179 people who managed to escape the ferry in the few hours before it capsized and sank.
A high school vice-principal rescued from a sinking South Korean ferry that sank with hundreds of his students on board was found dead Friday, police said, in an apparent suicide.
Local police on Jindo island said the body of vice-principal Kang Min-Kyu, 52, was found near the gymnasium where relatives of the 268 people still missing from the ferry disaster have been staying.
Police said the cause of death was still under investigation, but multiple local media reports said he had been found hanging by his belt from a tree.
Yonhap news agency said police found a suicide note in Kang's wallet that cited his sense of guilt at having survived the disaster.
"Surviving alone is too painful... I take full responsibility. I pushed ahead with the school trip," Yonhap quoted the note as saying.
Of the 475 people on board the ferry when it capsized Wednesday morning, 352 were students from Danwon High School in Ansan city just south of Seoul.
They were taking the ferry for a school excursion to the popular southern resort island of Jeju.
The vice-principal was among 179 people who managed to escape the ferry in the few hours before it capsized and sank.