Four died and 36 were injured in a pile-up involving nine vehicles in a tunnel in South Gyeongsang Province on Monday. Five tour buses involved in the accident were carrying middle school students on their way to field trip.
On Monday morning, seven buses carrying a total of 233 first-grade middle school students from Yangsan were headed to a training center in Goseong County, both located in South Gyeongsang Province.
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(Yonhap) |
The accident occurred while passing through 2,556-meter Changwon First Tunnel on Namhae Expressway.
Two buses at the head of the line made it out of the tunnel unscathed however, five buses and four other vehicles collided in a chain reaction resulting in the complete crushing of a four-seat compact car that got sandwiched between two giant buses.
The police reported the vehicle had been pressed beyond recognition of the original shape. All four passengers died at the scene.
Surveillance camera recordings showed the cars tailgating without maintaining a safe distance.
The first bus crashed into a Sorento SUV, then a 5-ton truck hit the bus from behind. A second and third bus, then the compact car, followed by a fourth and fifth bus and a mid-sized SUV, were all unable to avoid the collision.
The cars after the SUV managed to swerve in time to avoid the other cars.
By Lim Jeong-yeo (
kaylalim@heraldcorp.com)
