Minister Kim Young-hoon of the Ministry of Employment and Labor said on the 19th regarding the accident in which workers were hit by a Mugunghwa train while working on the Gyeongbu Line in Cheongdo County, North Gyeongsang Province, that "a regressive accident that should not have happened has occurred again" and noted, "If various violations of industrial safety obligations are revealed, we will hold them accountable forcefully."
On that day around 10:50 a.m., an accident occurred when seven workers working near the tracks of the Gyeongbu Line in Cheongdo County were hit by a Mugunghwa train. Two people were transported to the hospital in cardiac arrest but died. Among the remaining workers, four sustained serious injuries, and one had minor injuries.
One of the casualties is affiliated with the Korea Railroad Corporation (KORAIL), while the others are all affiliated with a structural safety inspection specialist (a subcontractor).
Following the accident, the Ministry of Employment and Labor established a Central Industrial Disaster Response Headquarters and a Regional Industrial Disaster Response Headquarters at its headquarters and the Daegu Regional Employment and Labor Office. This is due to the fact that there were three or more deaths or five or more casualties at the same business sites.
The ministry will also dispatch the head of the Central Industrial Disaster Response Headquarters, who is the Director of Industrial Accident Prevention and Supervision Policy, to the site to support the response to the accident. It plans to thoroughly investigate the structural causes of the accident in collaboration with the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport and establish a dedicated investigation team (15 members) to investigate violations of the Industrial Safety and Health Act and the Serious Accidents Punishment Act.
Minister Kim plans to visit the accident site that day to directly check the situation and urge for an investigation into the causes and a strict inquiry to be carried out.