Police have sought an arrest warrant for the driver who caused 14 casualties while driving a rental van on Udo in Jeju.
Jeju Eastern Police Station said on the 26th that it applied for an arrest warrant for driver A, 62, who was urgently detained on suspicion of violating the Act on Special Cases Concerning the Settlement of Traffic Accidents (death or injury).
Police said, "The case is serious, and there are concerns about flight and destruction of evidence, so we applied for an arrest warrant."
A is suspected of causing an accident at about 2:47 p.m. on the 24th at Cheonjin Port in Udo-myeon, Jeju City, by driving a Staria van, getting off the ferry, then speeding and plowing into pedestrians.
In the crash, three people died — a woman in her 60s who was in the rental car, and a man in his 70s and a man in his 60s who were walking — and 11 people were seriously or slightly injured. Jeju City later tallied the number of injured at 11, including the guardian of a patient transported by helicopter who received treatment afterward.
According to witnesses, the vehicle suddenly revved — "vroom" — and rapidly accelerated shortly after disembarking from the ship, sped for about 150 meters and caused the crash.
After exiting the ferry route and making a left turn, it immediately sped up and struck people walking on the road, and it reportedly kept going until it hit a road sign post next to the waiting room and finally stopped.
A, who suffered minor injuries, was urgently arrested at about 9:34 p.m. the day of the crash at the hospital where the person was hospitalized. A police investigation found A was not under the influence of alcohol.
A has reportedly claimed sudden unintended acceleration, saying, "The vehicle's RPM suddenly shot up and the car moved forward as is."
Police have requested the National Forensic Service and the Korea Road Traffic Authority to conduct a detailed examination of the rental car involved, and will focus on analyzing the event data recorder (EDR), which can determine whether there were defects such as sudden unintended acceleration.