Ahn suspends presidential campaign after deaths on bus

Politics

Published: 16 Feb. 2022, 18:04 Updated: 16 Feb. 2022, 19:15

Ahn suspends presidential campaign after deaths on bus

Police officers and National Forensic Service staffers examine a chartered bus in Cheonan, South Chungcheong, after two workers on the campaign of the People’s Party presidential candidate Ahn Cheol-soo were found dead inside it the previous day. [YONHAP]

Ahn Cheol-soo put a halt to his presidential campaign Wednesday after two people died of possible carbon monoxide poisoning on one of his campaign buses.

Two workers on the campaign of the People's Party (PP) candidate were found unconscious inside a chartered bus parked on a street in Cheonan, South Chungcheong, Tuesday evening. They were taken to hospitals and pronounced dead later in the day.

The victims were a 50-year-old bus driver and a 63-year-old member of the PP who oversaw campaigns in South Chungcheong districts.

Police said they found no sign of foul play. Police asked the National Forensic Service to conduct autopsies to find out the exact cause of the deaths.

Ahn was campaigning in North Gyeongsang when he was informed about the deaths and rushed to the hospitals to meet relatives of the victims Tuesday night. Tuesday was the first day of the official campaign period for the March 9 presidential election, and candidates fanned out around the country.

"I am grief-stricken because the people who were helping me died in this unforeseen accident," Ahn told reporters early Wednesday morning after meeting with the victims' families. "I will do my best to take care of the situation. I will stop my campaign today and do my best to find out the cause of their deaths."

Ahn returned to his home in Seoul later Wednesday and canceled all his planned activities, including a speech near Gwanghwamun and an announcement of economic pledges at the National Assembly. He is scheduled to return to the hospitals when mourning altars for the victims are prepared.

On Tuesday, a driver of another chartered bus for Ahn's campaign in Gangwon was also found unconscious and moved to Wonju Severance Christian Hospital. He gained consciousness on Wednesday.

According to the police, electricity generators to broadcast campaign advertisements were installed inside the campaign buses. The police suspected that carbon monoxide produced by the generators poisoned the victims.

The campaign buses were also wrapped with special film on the outside, and windows and doors remained closed while the generators were operating due to the cold, the police said.

According to the party, it operated 18 campaign buses around the country.

Ahn Cheol-soo, presidential candidate for the People's Party, walks out of the Dankook University Hospital in Cheonan, South Chungcheong, Tuesday night after meeting with relatives of a campaign worker who died earlier in the day. [YONHAP]

Following the tragedy, Ahn’s rivals expressed condolences. his rivals expressed condolences. The ruling Democratic Party (DP) said top officials including Lee Nak-yon, campaign chief of its candidate Lee Jae-myung, will pay a visit to the victims' relatives.

The main opposition People Power Party (PPP) said Wednesday that its candidate Yoon Suk-yeol will visit Cheonan to express condolences to the victims' families later in the evening. The party said it will not use any dance or music during campaign events for one day.

It remains to be seen if Yoon will run into Ahn during his condolence visit amid a deadlock in their negotiations over an electoral alliance. Ahn proposed on Sunday that a public opinion survey should decide which of them should be the opposition's sole candidate.

Yoon was lukewarm to the idea, saying he is more interested in striking a political deal directly with Ahn.

JTBC reported Tuesday that Yoon and the PPP are considering offering Ahn detailed political plans for the next five years that would guarantee him a good shot at the 2027 presidential candidacy. The broadcaster quoted Yoon's campaign officials and PPP politicians in the report.

In an interview with MBC on Wednesday, PPP Chairman Lee Jun-seok stressed that Yoon opposes a candidacy merger through an opinion poll. Lee hinted that Yoon may offer a political roadmap for Ahn to strike a deal.

"Ahn will continue his career as a politician, and his proposal for candidate consolidation [through an opinion poll] is not about winning or losing," Lee said. "It's a part of his process to build up political justifications… We are sending a message that we can respectfully offer Ahn a plan better than candidate merger through a competition."

The latest poll showed the gap between the DP's Lee and PPP's Yoon within the margin of error, meaning the race is tied.

According to a Hangil Research's poll announced Wednesday, Yoon led the poll with 42.4 percent while Lee scored 41.9 percent. The poll was conducted from Saturday till Monday and its confidence level was 95 percent and the margin of error was plus or minus 3.1 percentage points.

Lee's rating went up by 1.5 percentage points from a poll conducted on Feb. 2. Yoon's rating was up by 3.9 percentage points.

Hangil Research conducted four polls this year including the latest one, and the gaps between Lee and Yoon were within the margin of error in all surveys.

Ahn recorded 7.2 percent in the latest poll. His rating fell in all four surveys. In the first poll in January, Ahn scored 11 percent, which went down to 10 percent later that month. In the Feb. 2 poll, Ahn scored 8.2 percent.

More details of the polls are available on the homepage of the National Election Survey Deliberation Commission.

BY SER MYO-JA [ser.myoja@joongang.co.kr]