32 People Injured in Train Accident

An express train derailed in a close call accident that might have led to another man-made disaster. Four 36m-wide 10-ton iron beams fell off from Gyeryong Overpass in Oryu-dong, Jung-gu, Deajeon at about 1:45 p.m. on May 30 down to the Honam Line rails.

Saemaul Train No. 123, a 12:05 p.m. bound for Mokpo, South Jeolla Province, from Seoul was then hit by the beams and came off the rails partially. Four cars of the 10-car train, the fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh, were derailed in the accident.

∇Close Call

The iron beams fell off right before the train entered the station, and the train was hit by the beams on the rails. 178 passengers were aboard the train at that time and 32, including 81-year-old Kim Yong-dae, were injured and taken to nearby hospitals.

The sixth car was caught on fire as the train derailed, but passengers were immediately evacuated and no one was seriously injured. The train was scheduled to arrive at Mokpo Station at 4:38 p.m. departing Seoul Station at 12:05 p.m.

“As the announcement informed that the train was about to arrive in West Daejeon Station, I heard a bang sound and felt the train ran off,” said 51-year-old Kim Seul-gi. “Luckily the train was slowing down the speed as it approached the platform.”

The derailment caused delays for Honam Line passengers until late night.

∇Cause of Accident

Kolon Construction was removing girders of the ‘X’-shaped beam at that time, before clearing the entire beam from June 2 through 6. The police see that the beams fell off as girders were removed.

“We believed that the beams fell off at the site due to the lack of due cautionary safety measures,” said Kim Ho-gyun, investigator dispatched by the railway corporation.

Meantime, Dajeon City earlier built protection walls against falling subjects on the both sides of the overpass using steel board, but they were against light subjects and not enough to withhold some 10-ton weighing iron beams.

The police are now set to investigate the exact cause of the accident by calling in managers of the construction site and officials at the Deajeon City.

∇Old Overpass

Gyeryong Overpass is a 260m-long and four-lane overpass built in 1981 and was labeled as `unsafe to use after 2005` at the time of inspection in 1995.

Deajeon City began breaking down the old overpass on April 10 to expand the four-lane road to a six-lane one in line with the ongoing the Subway Line 1 construction. 29.4% of the overpass was removed before the accident.

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