Police Make Every Effort to Prove Involved Parties' Negligence Through Data Analysis
Accident Cause Analysis Requested by Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport Construction Accident Investigation Committee
[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Park Jin-hyung] The police investigating the collapse accident at Hwajeong I-Park in Seo-gu, Gwangju Metropolitan City are focusing all efforts on analyzing the materials seized so far and accelerating the investigation.
According to the 'Gwangju Seo-gu New Apartment Collapse Accident Investigation Headquarters' on the 21st, search warrants have been executed at 29 locations, including the site office at the accident location, the supervision office, and subcontractors.
The investigation headquarters is nearly finished executing the search warrants and plans to apply for additional warrants if necessary during the investigation process.
A total of 69 personnel, including support departments, have been mobilized for this case. As they have officially started analyzing materials to prove the negligence of related parties, the investigation appears to be gaining momentum. The materials secured so far include design drawings, site work logs, supervision documents, and are reported to be voluminous.
The criminal suspects related to this case include Hyundai Development Company site manager A (49), supervisors, and subcontractor site managers, totaling 10 people, who face charges of professional negligence resulting in death and injury, as well as violations of the Building Act.
All of them deny the charges.
The investigation headquarters is largely divided into the Violent Crime Investigation Unit, which is clarifying the cause of the accident, and the Anti-Corruption Economic Crime Investigation Unit, which is examining the contractual relationships between the primary and subcontractors.
The main suspected causes of the accident are ▲issues with the Muji-bo (deck plate) construction method ▲lack of installation of lower floor props ▲poor concrete curing. The cause analysis has been requested from the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport’s Construction Accident Investigation Committee.
The committee is identifying the cause based on accident circumstances and construction drawings, analyzing concrete test specimens, and examining various factors that appear to have influenced the collapse accident.
Once the on-site rescue operations are completed, the police will conduct a joint on-site inspection with the National Forensic Service and others to carry out additional investigations to determine the cause of the accident.
Unlike the 'Hakdong Disaster,' clear evidence of price-cutting during the re-subcontracting process leading to substandard construction has not yet been confirmed.
There are differing views on whether a specialized construction company, a subcontractor of Hyundai Development Company, signing labor contracts with eight employees belonging to a pump car company and mobilizing them for work should be considered 're-subcontracting.'
An official from the investigation headquarters stated, "Although the search and rescue situation somewhat restricts the progress of the investigation, we plan to focus our investigative efforts on proving the negligence of those responsible for the time being."
Meanwhile, the accident occurred around 3:46 p.m. on the 11th when the exterior walls of the 23rd to 38th floors of Building 201 collapsed at the apartment construction site.
As a result, one worker died, and five went missing. It is presumed that they were responsible for window and fire-fighting equipment work on the 28th to 34th floors of the collapsed building.
© The Asia Business Daily(www.asiae.co.kr). All rights reserved.
