I don’t understand why it sank? Overloaded? Terrorism? North Korea hit?
I really don’t know. Sounds almost as if the load shifted.
According to what I’ve read, it sounds like human error compounded by further bad judgment. Allegedly the captain was not at the helm at the time but rather a rather inexperienced third mate, that the ship had been delayed due to fog and was trying to make up for lost time, that the ship started listing just after it made a rather sharp turn, possibly at too high a rate of speed, and that caused the ship’s load of cars and truck and freight to shift, causing the ship to go over on its side. And the death toll is likely as high as it is because the captain delayed evacuating for up to 30 minutes and instructions were given to passengers to put on their life vests but to stay put and await rescue (shelter in place?). By the time they realized the ship was going down, the captain and some of the crew had allegedly abandoned the ship, leaving the passengers on their own and or with confusing and chaotic instructions, but by that time many of them were now hopelessly trapped below deck.
Arrest warrants have just been issued for the captain and several crew members.
As to the high school vice principal’s apparent suicide; he was among one of the first passengers to be rescued. Not that he did anything wrong given the chaos of the situation or that he could have done anything more, but he evidently felt extremely guilty for having survived when so many of his students under his charge have perished.
Asian culture including that of Korea which shares some similarities to Japan, has a long history of so called “honorable suicide”. If a person thinks their actions have brought shame or dishonor to themselves and their family, they feel obligated to kill themselves.