Hangang Police Water Rescue Team Member Dies in Accident During Search for Jumper

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Min-young] On the 15th, a water rescue worker from the Seoul Hangang Police Unit was searching for a jumper who had jumped from the Hangang Bridge when he got trapped between the stones of a bridge pier and could not get out of the water. He was rescued after about 30 minutes but died.

According to the police and fire authorities, at around 2:12 PM that day, a report was received that A (39), a member of the Hangang Police Unit, was trapped between the stones of a bridge pier and could not get out of the water while searching for a jumper at the north end of Gayang Bridge in Mapo-gu.

A was reportedly conducting a search operation in pairs with a colleague to find a man who had abandoned his car on Gayang Bridge and jumped into the Hangang River the previous morning.

A was rescued by the dispatched 119 water rescue team at around 2:47 PM, about 30 minutes later, received cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR), and was transported to a nearby hospital, but died about four hours later at around 6:47 PM that day.

The police are investigating the exact circumstances of the accident.

The police posthumously promoted A from sergeant to inspector by one rank and decided to hold the funeral as a Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency Chief’s funeral (葬).