ANN/THE KOREA HERALD – South Korean police announced yesterday they have located skid marks left by a car involved in the July 1 incident that resulted in the deaths of nine pedestrians.
Experts believe these marks could provide crucial details for reconstructing the accident. The skid marks may help determine the vehicle’s speed at the time of the collision and indicate whether the driver attempted to brake beforehand.
Authorities are reportedly utilising an event data recorder to examine the events leading up to the tragic incident.
The device, which is installed in vehicles, records specific technical vehicle and occupant information for a brief period before, during and after a crash.
Police have also requested an investigation of black boxes and security camera footage from the accident site to verify the driver’s claim of a vehicle malfunction.
Officials have confirmed, based on an analysis of footage from nearby cameras, that the car’s auxiliary brake lights had not turned on when it was being driven on the wrong side of the road. A thorough analysis of the car by the National Forensic Service has been requested by the police and will likely take at least one or two months.
Senior police officer at Namdaemun Police Station Chung Yong-woo told reporters during a briefing that another injury had occurred during the car crash in central Seoul, bringing the total number of casualties to 16, including the nine people who died. The injured person was not present at the scene as he was accompanying another victim to the hospital at the time of the accident, said Chung.
The individual had sustained minor injuries and was a colleague of two employees at the Seoul Metropolitan Government who had died in the accident, according to reports citing authorities.
The 68-year-old driver, identified by his surname Cha, is reportedly a bus driver in Ansan, Gyeonggi Province and has over 40 years of driving experience.
The driver had barrelled into pedestrians at an intersection near Seoul City Hall at 9.27pm on July 1, after leaving a hotel to attend a family event. The Genesis sedan he was driving plowed through a pavement guardrail and struck people waiting to cross the road.
