People Collapse Like Dominoes... Footage of Sunae Station Accident Reveals All

Possibility Raised Including Mechanical Defect Cause

At around 8:20 a.m. on the 8th, an escalator at Sunae Station in Bundang-gu, Seongnam-si, Gyeonggi Province, ran in reverse, causing an accident.

CCTV footage provided by the Gyeonggi Fire and Disaster Headquarters on the day showed the upward escalator at Exit 2 of Sunae Station running backward at high speed during the accident.

Some citizens who were about to board the escalator sensed something suspicious and quickly ran to evacuate.

However, passengers who had boarded earlier fell one after another as the escalator ran backward at increasing speed.

The fallen passengers piled up at the bottom of the escalator, and those standing in front also fell, causing further confusion.

The scene of the escalator running in reverse accident at Sunae Station [Video provided by Gyeonggi-do Fire and Disaster Headquarters]

Some even fell over the escalator handrail, dropping in the opposite direction, creating a dizzying scene.

The escalator, which was operating normally while carrying passengers moving to the ground level, suddenly stopped temporarily, ran backward for a few seconds, and then ceased operation.

After the accident, citizens nearby gathered to pull out passengers trapped underneath and helped support some of them, assisting in the rescue efforts.

As a result of the accident, three people including Mr. A sustained injuries to their waist and legs and are currently hospitalized for treatment. Eleven others, including Mr. B, suffered minor injuries and were treated at the hospital before being discharged.

On the morning of the 8th, the escalator going up at Exit 2 of Sunae Station on the Bundang Line subway in Seongnam-si, Gyeonggi-do, ran in reverse, causing injuries to 14 people.
[Image source=Yonhap News]

At the time of the accident, safety fences and access control lines were installed on both sides of the escalator to restrict passage, and railway police officers guarded the area in front of Exit 2, guiding other citizens to take detours.

The escalator involved in the accident is a 9-meter-long lift installed in 2009, now in its 14th year of use. Safety inspections were conducted once a month, and the regular inspection on the 10th of last month found no abnormalities. Another safety inspection was scheduled around the 10th of this month.

A Korail official stated, "No major issues were found in recent inspections, and no special points were discovered in previous industrial inspections. We plan to identify the cause of the accident through detailed analysis."

According to police investigation, there was no evidence that the escalator was manually operated at the time of the accident. The anti-reverse device and other safety mechanisms were also found not to have been activated, leading to the conclusion that the accident likely occurred due to mechanical failure.

The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport will investigate the inspection methods and compliance with maintenance schedules for the escalator at Sunae Station, and if any violations are found, corrective measures will be taken.