Forensic service concludes that driver is likely to blame for fatal accident in front of Seoul City Hall

The National Forensic Service (NFS) told police on Monday that it believed the driver was probably at fault in the July 1 crash near City Hall Station that killed nine people. Based on the findings, police are inclined to believe the driver was negligent.

“We received the NFS report last Thursday and have completed the analysis,” said Jo Ji-ho, commissioner of the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency, at a regular press conference on Monday on the progress of the investigation into the cause of the accident.

“Given the seriousness of the matter and the public interest in the accident, we asked the NFS to conduct an expedited forensic investigation and the results were available more quickly than expected.”

On July 1, a vehicle drove the wrong way down a one-way street near Seoul City Hall, crashing into pedestrians and sidewalk guardrails before hitting two other cars and coming to a stop. The accident killed nine people and injured seven.

Previously, the police had sent the Genesis G80 car of the 68-year-old driver surnamed Cha and the vehicle’s accident data recorder (EDR) to the NFS for detailed identification and analysis on July 2, the day after the accident.

The NFS reportedly sent the vehicle and the results of the EDR analysis to the police, which found, among other things, that Cha had pressed the accelerator pedal almost to the floor at the time of the accident.

It was also noted that the brake lights appeared to be on during the accident due to diffuse reflection or flickering from reflected light from street lamps or buildings.

“Based on the results of the NFS analysis, we are close to the actual truth,” said Jo. “No matter what Cha’s testimony turns out to be – of course we have to take his testimony into account – but I don’t think further investigation into what really happened will be necessary.”

This suggests that police believe the accident was caused by Cha’s negligence and not by a vehicle defect that led to sudden, unintended acceleration, as Cha had claimed.

“Cha’s claims and statements are respected as stated and we need to confirm the final truth,” said Jo. “The driver’s statement needs to be evaluated based on the NFS analysis report.”

During an initial round of questioning on July 4, Cha claimed that the vehicle left the roadway due to sudden, unintended acceleration and that the brakes did not respond when he stepped on them.

When asked by a reporter whether the police would apply for an arrest warrant if Cha did not admit his negligence even after the NFS analysis report, Jo said that the investigation process and content “may be important factors in deciding whether an arrest warrant is necessary.”

Cha, who remained at Seoul National University Hospital in Jongno District until Monday with broken ribs and bleeding in his lungs as a result of the accident, is expected to be transferred to another hospital later in the day.

“We questioned Cha several times, but he continued to claim to be in pain and said it was difficult to give further testimony. Therefore, the investigation against him was closed without much progress,” said Jo. “The two-week hospital stay at a tertiary general hospital expired today, so he will be transferred to another facility. There is a lot we need to question the driver about, so we plan to investigate further.”

Regarding the controversy over insulting notes about the accident victims left at the accident scene near Seoul City Hall, Jo said that the police “have completed the investigation into the people who left notes at the accident scene and are currently conducting an investigation into insulting comments left by others on the Internet.”

Police had previously arrested and investigated two men, one in his twenties and the other in his forties, who had left insulting letters to the victims, mocking them and accused them of defamation.

The Cyber ​​Investigation Unit of the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency has launched an internal investigation into five more cases of offensive Internet posts about the victims.

BY LIM JEONG-WON ([email protected])