Sudden Seizure of Village Bus Driver... Bus Rushes into Wangsimni Station Plaza

Hit a utility pole and slowly came to a stop
Driver transported to hospital... No other injuries reported

At around 11:34 a.m. on the 31st, a village bus collided with a utility pole in the square near the entrance of Wangsimni Station in Seongdong-gu, Seoul. As a result of the accident, the village bus driver, Mr. A (56), was taken to the hospital. At the time, there were about five passengers on the bus, but since the bus was traveling at a low speed when the accident occurred, no one other than Mr. A was reported injured.

At the time of the accident, Mr. A was supposed to turn left in front of Wangsimni Station but went straight instead. Then, the bus drove onto the sidewalk, hit a utility pole in front of Wangsimni Station, entered the station square, and stopped in front of the stairs leading to nearby shops. Fortunately, no pedestrians passing by were injured. This was because the bus was moving slowly at less than 10 km/h. Mr. A was experiencing a seizure at the time and was found not to have consumed alcohol or drugs. He sustained a minor back injury and was transported to the hospital, reportedly conscious at the time of rescue.

Wangsimni Station

He reportedly told the police, "I became disoriented while driving and could not turn the steering wheel during the left turn," and "I do not remember the circumstances of the accident." The police are investigating the exact cause of the accident based on CCTV footage near the scene.

Meanwhile, at the end of last year, there was another accident where a village bus driver suddenly lost consciousness while driving and collapsed, causing the bus to crash into a building wall and injure passengers. On December 8th last year, at around 9:10 a.m., Mr. B, a driver in his 50s driving a village bus on a road in Changman-ri, Gwangtan-myeon, Paju-si, Gyeonggi Province, suddenly lost consciousness and collapsed. A passenger who witnessed this hurried to take control of the steering wheel, but the bus had already lost direction. Eventually, the bus stopped only after crashing into the wall of a nearby rice mill building.

Driver Mr. B was transported to a nearby hospital in cardiac arrest but ultimately passed away. Additionally, four passengers on the bus sustained facial injuries and were all taken to the hospital for treatment. A police official stated, "According to the CCTV footage installed inside the bus, it appears that Mr. B collapsed due to cardiac arrest while driving," and added, "We are investigating the exact cause of the accident."