It was belatedly learned that an employee of Korea Land & Housing Corporation (LH) who appeared at a hearing over the "Osan retaining wall collapse"—in which a retaining wall collapsed during heavy rain in Jul., killing a passing car driver—was found dead early this month.
According to the Jinju Police Station in South Gyeongsang on the 23rd, around 1 a.m. on the 1st, an LH employee in his 50s, identified as A, was found dead in a low mountain in Jinju. LH is the ordering agency for the elevated road at Gajang Intersection in Osan, Gyeonggi Province, where the accident occurred.
Around 12:10 a.m. on the 1st, before the death, A is believed to have sent text messages to colleagues saying, "I am lonely and struggling because of the Osan retaining wall construction." A coworker who received the messages reported it to police, and responding officers found A dead after a search.
A was known as a senior-level employee who served as on-site construction supervisor when the 4.9-kilometer Yangsan–Gajang section of the western bypass road, which includes the retaining wall in question, was built from 2006 to 2012. The road was ordered by LH and built by Hyundai E&C.
On the 28th of last month, A attended a hearing of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport's Central Facility Accident Investigation Committee, gave statements related to the collapse, and was asked to submit materials. Many others also attended, including six LH employees, including A, as well as officials from Hyundai E&C and Osan City. A was not a target of investigation and therefore was not asked by police to appear, according to reports.
The Jinju Police Station concluded the case on the 16th, determining based on text messages left by A and other factors that A took their own life.
Meanwhile, police are investigating with the possibility in mind that not only road maintenance and repair but also problems in the construction process may have caused the retaining wall collapse.
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