Six days have passed since a tragic accident in Daeyeon-dong, Nam-gu, Busan, where a vehicle driven by a driver in their 70s plowed into a sidewalk, killing two pedestrians. However, citizens continue to visit the site to mourn the victims.

On the afternoon of the 27th, near the traffic island structure close to Daeyeon Station on Busan Subway Line 2—the site of the accident—piles of white chrysanthemum bouquets left voluntarily by local residents and citizens have accumulated. Among the bouquets, short memorial letters, bottled water, coffee, and fruit beverages are placed side by side, adding to the sorrow of the tragedy.

Previously, around 1:08 p.m. on the 21st, a K7 passenger car driven by a driver in their 70s plowed into the sidewalk at this location, striking four pedestrians and crashing into a subway ventilation shaft structure.

Due to the impact of the accident, two people walking on the street at the time—a woman in her 40s and a woman in their 70s—lost their lives at the scene. A teenage woman and a woman in her 30s who were with them also sustained major and minor injuries and were transported to the hospital. Immediately after the accident, a fire broke out in the engine compartment of the offending vehicle but was extinguished by firefighters who quickly arrived at the scene. The driver in their 70s, who suffered injuries to the abdomen and legs, was also taken to the hospital for treatment.

Police suspect that the K7 vehicle failed to reduce speed while coming down from a nearby apartment complex and plowed into pedestrians on the sidewalk. Currently, the jurisdictional police station is investigating the exact cause of the accident, including whether it was due to driver error or a vehicle defect, through questioning the driver and analyzing nearby closed-circuit (CCTV) footage.

As tragedies involving vehicles invading pedestrian safety zones such as sidewalks and traffic islands repeat, voices are growing within the local community that it is urgent to prepare physical and structural preventive measures, such as reinforcing steel protective fences in vulnerable areas.

Korea Youth Media Reporter Kim Do-hyung (kimdiagram@kym.io.kr)