70s Woman Dies and 17 Injured
Additional Investigation Based on Analysis of Black Box and Other Video Footage
A victim who died in a bus accident at Suwon Station Transfer Center on the 22nd was reportedly about to celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary.
At around 1:26 PM that day, a city bus No. 30-1 driven by driver A (in his 50s) crashed into citizens at the No. 12 bus transfer center on the 2nd floor of Suwon Station in Suwon-si, Gyeonggi Province. The accident resulted in 1 death and 17 injuries. The transfer center where the accident occurred is a busy area connected to department stores and other locations, with a high volume of foot traffic.
Just before the accident, driver A briefly stopped at platform No. 12 of the transfer center to let passengers on and off, and while departing again, suddenly struck multiple citizens in succession.
It was confirmed that the female bus driver in her 50s made a statement indicating that the accident occurred due to her own fault. According to the investigation, when a passenger said "the change is not coming out," the driver briefly stood up from the driver's seat to check, and when the bus started moving, the startled driver pressed the accelerator instead of the brake, causing the accident.
According to News1, the husband of the deceased woman B (77) said, "Next week marks exactly our 50th wedding anniversary," adding, "My wife only suffered and then passed away. I can't believe such a thing happened."
B was reportedly on her way to a hospital in Suwon City from her home in Bongdam-eup, Hwaseong-si, when she was waiting for the bus and the accident occurred.
The Gyeonggi Suwon Western Police Station announced that bus driver A has been criminally charged with violating the Special Act on Traffic Accident Handling (causing death). He is said to have over 20 years of driving experience. After the accident, the bus company issued an urgent notice to all drivers to "engage the parking brake while stopped."
The police plan to conduct a detailed investigation, focusing on the possibility that the accident was caused by driver negligence.
It was confirmed that the bus driver was neither driving under the influence of alcohol nor under the influence of drugs. There were no skid marks at the accident scene, making sudden unintended acceleration unlikely, and no ice was found.
Additionally, CCTV and black box footage have been collected for close examination, and based on the analysis of the Digital Tachograph (DTG), they plan to check whether there was any vehicle defect.
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