22 Injured, Including 22 Seriously, in Express Bus Collision with Guardrail on Namhae Expressway

On the first day of the Chuseok holiday, the 14th, an express bus collided consecutively with a guardrail and a central divider on the Namhae Expressway Branch Line 2. Four people were seriously injured and 18 sustained minor injuries in the accident.

On the morning of the 14th, a highway bus traveling near the Seobusan Tollgate on the Namhae Expressway Branch 2 in Gangseo-gu, Busan, collided consecutively with a guardrail and the central divider, resulting in 22 people sustaining serious and minor injuries.
[Image source=Yonhap News]

According to the Busan Metropolitan Police Agency and Busan Fire Headquarters, at around 6:56 a.m. that day, near the Seobusan Tollgate on Namhae Expressway Branch Line 2 in Busan, an express bus first struck the shoulder guardrail and then hit the central divider before coming to a stop.

At the time, there were 22 passengers on the bus including the driver; 4 were seriously injured and 18 sustained minor injuries.

Among the seriously injured, a woman in her 20s suffered severe facial injuries. A man in his 20s and a man in his 40s were injured in the chest and pelvis areas, and the bus driver in his 60s showed signs of decreased consciousness. It was reported that two of the seriously injured were thrown out of the bus due to the impact and were found on the opposite side of the road.

Due to the multiple casualties, the Busan Fire Headquarters and Gyeongnam Fire Headquarters deployed 19 ambulances and other emergency vehicles to transport the patients to hospitals. The patients were reportedly distributed and transferred to hospitals in the Busan and Gyeongnam areas within 1 to 1.5 hours after the accident.

Of the 18 with minor injuries, 16 were taken to hospitals, while 2 received treatment only at the scene. The Busan police currently report that the seriously injured are not in life-threatening condition.

As a result of the accident, some sections of Namhae Expressway Branch Line 2 were closed for accident clearance but were reopened for normal traffic as of 8:35 a.m. The police are currently investigating the exact cause of the accident.