Student Hit and Killed by Forklift at Pusan National University... Ongoing Campus Traffic Accidents

"Fully Preventable, Inadequate School Response"

A female student in her 20s who was hit by a forklift while crossing a crosswalk inside the Busan National University campus has ultimately passed away.

Busan National University logo.
Photo by Busan National University

On the 19th, the Geumjeong Police Station in Busan announced that Ms. A (female, in her 20s), who was seriously injured after being hit by a forklift inside the Busan National University campus in Jangjeon-dong, Geumjeong-gu, Busan, around 1:55 p.m. on the 17th, died while receiving treatment at the hospital.

At the time, construction work was underway on the university buildings. Mr. B, who is suspected of causing the accident while operating the forklift for the construction work, reportedly stated during the police investigation that he "did not see Ms. A."

The police stated that with Ms. A’s death, they will continue the investigation under the violation of the Special Act on Traffic Accident Handling. The police added, "In this case, gross negligence causing death does not apply," and "additional investigations are underway based on surrounding closed-circuit television (CCTV) footage."

Students of Dongduk Women's University participating in a related rally regarding a student who was hit and killed by a vehicle on the Dongduk Women's University campus.
[Photo by Go Gijeong, Asia Economy]

A similarly tragic incident of a student being hit by a vehicle on campus occurred last year at Dongduk Women’s University. Ms. C (female, in her 20s), who was on her way to school on the Seoul Dongduk Women’s University campus, was hit by a garbage collection truck while going up a hill, was declared brain dead, and passed away two days later. The truck driver, Mr. D (81 years old), testified that he "pressed the brakes," but the police investigation found no record of brake application.

Regarding this accident, Dongduk Women’s University students pointed out that it was a safety issue that could have been sufficiently prevented, but the school’s response was inadequate. The hill where the accident occurred lacked a clear separation between the sidewalk and the roadway, and students had raised concerns about this issue for some time, but the school did not accept their complaints.

A student council official criticized, "Not only students but also faculty and staff repeatedly raised the issue of the garbage collection site on the hill to the school, but nothing has changed."