Three buses carrying 75 middle-school students and their teachers on a trip ended up in a pileup on a highway in Hongcheon County, east of Seoul, on Friday. More than 80 people were hurt, children among them.
Three people were seriously injured, two of them students, an official at the Gangwon State Fire Headquarters said by telephone.
Yonhap News described the crash as a seven-vehicle “chain-reaction” pileup on National Road No. 44, about 100 kilometers (60 miles) east of the capital, early in the afternoon. About 30 firefighters took part in the rescue. Police are investigating the cause.
It was the second serious bus accident in South Korea in two days. On Thursday evening, around 6:05 p.m., a tour bus overturned in Suanbo-myeon in North Chungcheong Province, killing one Israeli man and injuring 34 people on board, 32 of them Israelis, according to police. Eleven people with serious injuries were taken to a nearby hospital, where the man, believed to be in his 60s, died. The bus had left Gyeongju and was heading to Suanbo, where the tourists were to spend the night. Police said they were investigating based on the driver’s testimony about a faulty gear.
South Korea’s Foreign Ministry said it will give necessary support to the Israeli victims if the Israeli Embassy in Seoul asks for it.
Sources
- Over 80 Hurt in South Korea School Bus Crash: Fire Official
- 80 injured in South Korea school bus crash
