Sacheon Quarry Fatal Accident Caused by 'Work Negligence'... Gyeongnam Police Agency Sends Blasting Officials for Prosecution

The police handed over one company official to the prosecution in connection with an accident in which two people died after a vehicle fell at a quarry in Sacheon-si, Gyeongnam, last August.

The Gyeongnam Provincial Police Agency announced on the 21st that it had sent A, a man in his 40s and the blasting team leader of a Gyeongnam-based aggregate company, to the prosecution without detention on the charge of professional negligence causing death on the 14th.

According to the police, on August 2nd at 12:06 p.m., an SUV driving on a road of an aggregate production company in Sacheon-eup, Sacheon-si, fell 4 meters down, seriously injuring the driver and a male passenger in their 60s, who eventually died from head injuries.

A firefighter is inspecting a fallen vehicle.
[Photo by Gyeongnam Fire Headquarters]

The Sacheon Police Station, which initially investigated the incident, judged it as a simple traffic accident caused by driver error, where the vehicle overturned and the victim died after hitting his head on sharp rocks.

However, the bereaved family, having secured CCTV footage from the scene, claimed it was a major industrial accident based on the fact that blasting occurred as the vehicle approached the area where explosives were installed, and that the accident vehicle was not properly managed. This led to controversy over a negligent investigation, and the Gyeongnam Police Agency took over the case.

The Gyeongnam Police Agency launched a reinvestigation through analysis by the National Forensic Service, CCTV footage from the scene, and the vehicle's Event Data Recorder (EDR).

The National Forensic Service collected about 19 stones inside the vehicle and estimated that some of the scratches on the vehicle surface and damage to the front windshield were caused by stones flying during the blasting operation.

The CCTV footage confirmed stones flying and scattering along the vehicle's path during the blasting operation.

EDR analysis showed that the vehicle was traveling at about 10 km/h when it began to tilt to the left, rotated about half a turn, and overturned, which did not match the extent of injuries sustained by the passenger in the front seat.

Accordingly, the police concluded that stones flying from the blasting operation, conducted without following safety regulations, struck the vehicle and victims, causing the vehicle to fall and the victims to die from traumatic brain injuries.

Regarding this, the bereaved family and the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions plan to hold a press conference on the morning of the 22nd in front of the Gyeongnam Police Agency to file a complaint against the Sacheon Police Station staff for failing to conduct a proper initial investigation.