2014 Seoul subway crash
Details
LocationSangwangsimni Station,
Seoul Subway Line 2
CountryRepublic of Korea
LineLine 2
Incident typeCrash
CauseATS failure[1][2]
Statistics
TrainsRapid transit
Injured388 (24 severely injured)[3]

The 2014 Seoul subway crash, or the Sangwangsimni station rear-end accident (Korean: 상왕십리역 추돌 사고; Hanja: 上往十里驛追突事故), occurred on May 2, 2014 KST, when two subway cars collided in Seoul, South Korea.

The district prosecutors later determined 388 people were injured (24 severely injured),[3] while initially media reported 238 injuries.[4][5] The two trainsets that were involved in the accident have since been withdrawn from service.

Crash

At 03:30 pm KST (06:30 GMT) of May 2, 2014, a first-generation Seoul Metro 2000 series train crashed into another similar one on Line 2 at Sangwangsimni Station.

9 months after, the district prosecutors later determined 388 people were injured (24 severely injured),[3] while initial media coverage reported 238 injuries.[4] About 150 of them suffering bruises and other minor injuries were sent to the nearby hospitals and even the Hanyang University Medical Center.[6][7] This was confirmed by Fire officer Kim Kyung-su who said only two people suffered fractures and serious bruises.[7]

According to witnesses, one train was hit from the rear by another incoming train while leaving Sangwangsimni station in the east of Seoul.[4] Another witness said many passengers forced the doors open and escaped onto the tracks after ignoring the onboard announcement which told them to stay inside the cars.[8] The decision by many passengers to ignore instructions was likely due to distrust in authorities after the Sinking of MV Sewol and Daegu subway fire, where instructions to remain onboard resulted in several fatalities.[9]

YTN television reported one subway car was derailed, so passengers had to walk a short distance along the tracks to the station. A government emergency official said that many passengers were injured as they jumped from the subway cars onto the tracks.[4] Yonhap said the train stopped due to mechanical problems after the second train ran into the back of it.[8] It also said that 'a failure in the moving train's automatic distance control system' may have been the cause, while officials were still investigating the accident.[6]

Causes and investigations

The CEO of Seoul Metro later revealed that a faulty Automatic Train Stop signaling system was responsible for the incident.[2] The signaling fault was discovered 14 hours before but remained unfixed at the time of collision.[1] Seoul Metro official Jeong Su-young said that the driver of the moving train applied the emergency brake after noticing a stop signal, but the train could not stop in time.[7] Local news reports revealed 'providing instructions to passengers about what to do' were largely delayed.[7]

On 1 February 2015, the Seoul Eastern District Prosecutors' Office indicted 5 train employees and released a prosecution report. Later in the decade many K-Pop Groups and idols put the accident into spectrum. This includes BTS's Spring Day and many others..[3] On 31 August 2016, the court ruled all 8 suspects guilty.[10]

See also

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Sangwangsimni station collision accident.

References

  1. 1 2 Kim, EJ (6 May 2014). "Police raid Seoul Metro again over train collision". Yonghap News Agency. Retrieved 22 November 2015.
  2. 1 2 "South Korean subway collision caused by faulty 'go' signal". DW. 2 May 2015. Retrieved 22 November 2015.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 박성진 (2021-02-01). "388명 부상 '상왕십리역 추돌사고', 9개월만에 밝혀진 원인은?" [388 people were injured in the Sangwangsimni Station crash. What was the cause of the crash happened nine months ago?]. The Dong-a Ilbo. Archived from the original on 2021-05-27.
  4. 1 2 3 4 Kim, Jack; Yang, Kahyun (May 2, 2014). "Subway trains crash in South Korean capital, 200 people hurt". Reuters. Archived from the original on July 13, 2014. Retrieved May 2, 2014.
  5. ↑ Kim Hjelmgaard (May 2, 2014). "Reports: Dozens injured in Seoul subway crash". USA Today. Retrieved May 2, 2014.
  6. 1 2 "Seoul subway trains crash, causing minor injuries". The Washington Post. Associated Press. May 2, 2014. Archived from the original on May 2, 2014. Retrieved May 2, 2014.
  7. 1 2 3 4 Kim, Hyung-jin (May 2, 2014). "Seoul Subway Trains Crash, Scores Injured Lightly". ABC News. Associated Press. Archived from the original on May 7, 2014. Retrieved May 2, 2014.
  8. 1 2 "South Korea subway crash injures dozens in Seoul". BBC News. May 2, 2014. Archived from the original on May 5, 2014. Retrieved May 2, 2014.
  9. ↑ Song, Jung-a (2 May 2014). "Dozens injured in Seoul subway crash". Financial Times. Retrieved 22 November 2015.
  10. 1 2 박수진 (2016-08-31). "'상왕십리 열차 추돌 사고' 8명 모두 유죄" [All 8 found guilty in the Sangwangsimni station rear-end accident]. SBS News. Archived from the original on 2016-10-30.

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