Truck rampage in Bucheon kills two, injures 19

Investigators said the truck rampage at a traditional market in Bucheon, Gyeonggi Province, that left 21 people dead or injured was caused by a 60-year-old driver mistakenly pressing the accelerator.

According to the Bucheon Ojeong Police Station on Nov. 14, footage from the truck driver Kim’s, 67, vehicle black box showed him pressing the accelerator instead of the brake at the time of the accident. Analysis of closed-circuit television cameras installed throughout the market revealed that the truck’s brake lights were not activated during the crash. Kim reportedly told investigators that he had placed the vehicle in the wrong gear, stepped out, and then hurriedly re-entered the truck and pressed the accelerator.

Based on these findings, police are considering Kim’s pedal error as the cause of the crash. To determine the precise cause, the National Forensic Service has been asked to examine the vehicle’s event data recorder and other evidence. The Gyeonggi Southern Provincial Police Agency’s traffic investigation unit took over the case from the Bucheon Ojeong Police Station and filed for an arrest warrant against Kim on charges of causing death and injury under the Special Act on Traffic Accident Handling.

Kim is accused of driving his truck along the roughly 3-meter-wide pedestrian path inside Jeil Market in Wonjong-dong, Ojeong District, at around 10:55 a.m. on Nov. 13, killing two women, including a woman in her 70s and a Chinese national in her 60s, and injuring 19 others.


Kum-Chun Hwang kchwang@donga.com