<Anchor> An
excavator driver in his 50s drowned while working in a river in Yeoncheon-gun, Gyeonggi-do. Military facilities were installed on the bottom of the river to squeeze enemy tanks deep during war, and it was known that this was not properly notified to excavators working at the time.
Reporter Park Chan-beom covered it.
<Reporter> The
police forensic investigation team looks closely around the driver's seat of the excavator.
The 55-year-old excavator driver, Mr. Choi, was unable to return to his family after the accident yesterday (6th).
Mr. Choi was put into the river maintenance business from the 24th of last month, and he was in charge of digging the waste and moving it.
Mr. Choi's excavator climbed onto an anti-tank obstacle called a'tank trap' yesterday morning, and the excavator fell to the side.
Choi, who fell into the river, was found dead within a day.
[Village residents: I dug deep into the floor and put a lid on the concrete. Anyone who farms here and there knows.] There
are six anti-tank obstacles in Yeoncheon-gun alone.
It is a facility to neutralize enemy tanks in the event of war.
It is designed to break when a vehicle over 20 tons passes above it.
The excavator in the accident weighs more than 30 tons, and there are no warning signs around this area stating that heavy machinery like this should not pass through this river.
Neither the county office nor the construction manager told Choi that such facilities exist.
All that is written on the signboard about 700m from the accident.
[Cho Chang-suk/Bereaved family: I went to the county office (the day of disappearance) in the evening,'You guys knew this. I know, why didn't you tell me, didn't you put up a sign?' I only said I'm sorry... ] The
police will investigate the compliance of the safety rules with the construction managers.
(Video coverage: In Pil-seong, video editing: Park Ki-duk, CG: Seo Seung-hyun)