Tragedy on the Yangtze

Katie Burke 

On Monday night, a Chinese cruise ship on the Yangtze River capsized in the midst of a severe storm that may have been a tornado. According to The New York Times, only 14 survivors have been found so far and 436 passengers are still missing.

This tragic accident could be one of the worst this millennium.  In April 2014, a South Korean ferry sunk en route to Jeju, South Korea. That accident resulted in 334 deaths, and officials are expecting the Chinese cruise ship casualties to top that number by a large margin.  To put that in perspective, there were 227 passengers on the Malaysia Airlines flight 370 that disappeared in March 2014 — a story that dominated news agencies for months afterwards.

While the relative frequency of these horrific accidents in Asian travel may seem like a strong deterrent to potential travelers to the region, travel safety is not the issue to take away from them.

The South Korean ferry accident was the result of negligence, but the consequences for those responsible, both by the government and the media, ensure more precautions will be taken to prevent it from happening again in the future. As for the disappearance of flight 370, we may never know what happened, but the frequency of disappearing flights in history has been relatively low. The Yangtze River tragedy was the result of nature.

The handling of the event has been the true cause for concern.  Family members of passengers were given little to no information about the accident, and journalists were told by the Chinese government not to go to the scene. While China is not known for free and frequent communication, the international community must work to ensure more information is provided when these travesties occur.

There is inherent risk to travel, yet most of us take it because the reward is great. The best way to prevent future tragedy is to learn from the present, and it is up to global community to set a standard of open communication in the event of disaster.

An aspiring journalist, Katie enjoys learning about the world firsthand through travel. Her main area of interest is Spain and Spanish culture, however, she is open to going anywhere and everywhere she has the chance. To Katie, the most important part of the travel experience is documenting it.

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