A taxi driver in his 70s, identified as A, was taken into emergency custody by police after a rear-end collision on the road in front of Jonggak Station in Jongno-gu, Seoul, left 14 people dead or injured. A preliminary drug test on A reportedly detected morphine.
The Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency said on the 3rd that A was taken into emergency custody on suspicion of violating the Act on Special Cases Concerning the Settlement of Traffic Accidents (causing death or injury). Morphine was reportedly detected in A's preliminary drug test after the crash. Considering the possibility that it could be from a prescribed medication such as a cold medicine, police have requested a detailed analysis from the National Forensic Service.
At about 6:07 p.m. on the previous day, A, who was driving an electric taxi near Jonggak Station in Jongno-gu, suddenly accelerated, crashed into a passenger car and a crosswalk signal pole, and then collided with another passenger car ahead.
Thirteen people, including pedestrians waiting at the crosswalk signal, were injured in the crash. Among them, a pedestrian, a woman in her 40s, was transported to a hospital in cardiac arrest while receiving cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) but ultimately died.