South Korea ferry disaster survivor: I had to leave pupils and save myself

A survivor of the South Korean ferry disaster told today how he took the agonising decision to save himself after fighting desperately and in vain to rescue schoolchildren.

Eun-su Choi said the memory of the victims “sliding around on the floor” will haunt him for ever. He told how he clung to the children, who were the same age as his daughter, as water poured into the ship. The lorry driver, who had made the journey “hundreds of times”, eventually left the pupils in order to save himself after realising there was no hope of them surviving.

“All of a sudden the ship tilted and started to sink,” he told the BBC. “I saw containers falling into the sea and realised we were going to capsize. I tried to save some students in the cafeteria. They were sliding on their knees around the cashiers’ desk.

“We were trying to pull them up with a fire hose but it was very difficult to rescue them. We then decided to climb up but I now regret it.”