Kim Dongyeon, Governor of Gyeonggi Province, expressed his gratitude after all passengers were safely rescued from a passenger ship that ran aground off the coast of Sinan County, South Jeolla Province, on the night of the 19th.
In a post uploaded to his social networking service (SNS) account on the 20th, Governor Kim said, "Late last night, I anxiously followed the accident response process," and added, "I thank everyone who worked hard to ensure the safe rescue of all passengers."
He further stated, "I will carefully check to see if any of our province's residents were affected."
Previously, on the 19th at around 4:45 p.m., the Queen Zenobia 2 departed Jeju for Mokpo carrying 267 people, including 246 passengers and 21 crew members. At 8:16 p.m. that same day, the vessel ran aground with about half of its hull on Jokdo, an uninhabited island near Jangsan Island in Sinan County.
Twenty-seven passengers who complained of pain from the impact at the time of the grounding were transported to hospitals in a dispersed manner, but none are reported to have suffered serious injuries.
Investigative authorities believe the accident occurred because the navigator was distracted, such as by looking at a mobile phone, and are currently investigating the exact cause of the incident.
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