Sinking of the MV Sewol

The sinking of the MV Sewol was a ferry disaster off the southwest coast of South Korea, in which the ship, traveling from Incheon to the island of Jeju, capsized and sank. A total of 304 people died, most of them students from a high school in Ansan on a school trip. The ferry had been modified to carry more passengers and was overloaded with cargo that was poorly secured, and it turned too sharply, which made it tilt. The captain and some of the crew abandoned ship and left passengers told to stay in their cabins. The disaster provoked national grief and anger at the government's slow rescue effort and lax safety regulation, and it contributed to the political crisis that led to President Park Geun-hye's impeachment.

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