A taxi driver in his 70s, identified as A, was urgently arrested by police after a rear-end collision on the road in front of Jonggak Station in Jongno District, Seoul, left 14 people dead or injured. A rapid drug test on A reportedly detected morphine.

Around 6 p.m. on the 2nd, a taxi speeds onto the sidewalk near Jonggak Station on Seoul Subway Line 1 and plows into pedestrians waiting at a crosswalk. /Courtesy of News1

The Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency said on the 3rd that it urgently arrested A 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 rapid drug test administered to A after the crash. Considering the possibility of prescription medication such as cold medicine, police have requested a detailed analysis from the National Forensic Service.

At about 6:07 p.m. on the previous day, A was driving an electric taxi near Jonggak Station in Jongno District when the vehicle suddenly accelerated, crashed into a passenger car and a crosswalk signal pole, and then collided with another car ahead.

Thirteen people, including pedestrians waiting at the crosswalk signal, were injured in the crash. Among them, a pedestrian woman in her 40s was transported to a hospital in cardiac arrest while receiving cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) but ultimately died.

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