8-Car Pileup Occurs on 2nd in Gangnam-gu, Seoul
Unlicensed Woman in Her 20s, Video of Accident Spreads
Screams "Aak" While Talking to Mother... Arrested
A CCTV video capturing the moment of an eight-vehicle pileup in the middle of Gangnam-gu, Seoul, during broad daylight on the weekend has been released, shocking the public. On the 5th, an online community widely shared footage of the eight-vehicle collision that occurred around 1:42 p.m. on the 2nd on Teheran-ro, Gangnam-gu, Seoul, from the Kukkiwon entrance direction to Gangnam Station, involving lanes 1 to 3.
The video shows driver A, a woman in her 20s, continuing to drive immediately after the accident despite the road being in chaos. A is seen reversing over debris from the damaged vehicles, causing the sound of breaking fragments on the road, and even hitting another car trying to leave the accident scene. She then rushed toward the sidewalk, causing pedestrians to flee in fear.
Afterward, A moved forward again, driving in the wrong direction and mounting the median strip curb. At that time, a bystander approached the driver's seat to try to get A to exit the vehicle, but she did not get out and briefly stopped. She then repeatedly reversed and moved forward, suddenly driving forward in the wrong direction and hitting a motorcycle in lane 1 without stopping. Citizens screamed in terror.
According to a transcript released by JTBC on the 4th, after the accident, A called her mother, screaming "Ah!" and repeatedly saying "What do I do, what do I do, what do I do?" She also shouted, "Mom, I hit a teenager." When her mother told her, "Don't touch anything and turn off the engine," A replied, "I don't know how to turn off the engine, how do I do it?" According to A's mother, A has been taking psychiatric medication for seven years. A's mother told JTBC, "(My daughter) says she sees hallucinations and hears voices, and sees things that aren't there. We tried to get her hospitalized once," adding, "I am sorry this situation happened because I did not raise my child properly."
The accident damaged eight vehicles, including one motorcycle and seven cars. Fortunately, there were no fatalities, but nine people were injured. It was also reported that about 40 minutes before the accident, around 1 p.m., A hit a woman in her 30s pushing a stroller on a street in Geoyeo-dong, Songpa-gu, and fled the scene. The woman and child were not seriously injured but sustained minor wounds.
A woman in her 20s, Ms. A, who drove without a license and drove in the wrong direction after an accident in Gangnam, Seoul, is entering the Seoul Central District Court on the 4th for a pre-trial detention hearing. [Photo by Yonhap News]
After the accident, A was confirmed to be driving without a license and was arrested on the spot. Investigations revealed she was not under the influence of alcohol, and a preliminary drug test came back negative. A reportedly told the police that she had taken a sedative.
On the same day, Judge Shin Young-hee of the Seoul Central District Court, in charge of warrants, conducted a pre-trial detention hearing for driver A and issued an arrest warrant, citing concerns that she might flee. The previous day, the Gangnam Police Station in Seoul had applied for an arrest warrant against A on charges including hit-and-run causing injury under the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Crimes, driving without a license under the Road Traffic Act, and violation of the Special Act on the Treatment of Traffic Accidents. The police have also requested a detailed analysis of A’s blood and sedatives from the National Forensic Service.
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