Coworkers say don't blame the bus driver killed in flood

Rescue team searching for survivors on the bus that drowned in an underpass in Osong, North Chungcheong, on Sunday. Among the 13 people that died, five were on the bus including the driver. [YONHAP]

Coworkers of a bus driver who died in a flooded underpass are asking the public to stop blaming him for the deaths of his passengers and other motorists.

Some 15 vehicles, including two trucks, were trapped in Osong, North Chungcheong on Saturday morning when a flash flood inundated the tunnel they were in. Thirteen people have been found dead as of Monday, including the bus driver.

The bus was heading from Cheongju International Airport to Osong Station. The driver, identified by his family name of Lee, reportedly took a detour due to road closures.

Local media reported that the bus may have trapped the other vehicles in the underpass as rising water lifted it and turned it sidewise, blocking the exit.

“Lee was hard-working,” said a colleague. “He came to the office earlier than anyone else, and from time to time, he would do volunteer work like helping out the elderly.

“He was a model citizen.”

Another colleague recalled that Lee always greeted other drivers by saying, “Safe driving today.”

“He would do all the hard chores in the office,” said another bus driver.

“He even got a medal from the governor as a model driver.

“I was told that his younger son will be getting married in October. I can’t imagine the pain that the family is going through.”

The 58-year-old driver had been driving the for 10 years. He'd been a truck driver before that.

His widow said she quickly identified her husband because of the patch on his arm, which said he was a model driver.

She said he was an exemplary bus driver who put the safety of his passengers first.

“Every day I packed a lunchbox with three side dishes so the honest man I loved would have strength,” Park said. “Now I can’t.”

Colleagues said Lee drove bus route 747 because he was the best driver in the company.

“Bus route 747 is the face of the company,” a bus driver said.

The dead man's coworkers were angry about news reports blaming Lee for taking the detour.

“It is wrong to blame the bus driver for changing the route,” said one bus driver.

“The bus driver wanted to safely take passengers to their destination. Wouldn’t it have been more irresponsible if the bus driver kept driving on a route that had already been blocked?”

Lee’s body was found at around 1:25 a.m. Monday.

Local authorities, including Cheongju's municipal government, are also being blamed for failing to block off the road.

Emergency workers say 60,000 tons of water filled the 430-meter-long (1,410-foot-long), 4.5-meter-high underpass at around 8:45 a.m., submerging it in just three minutes.

The flood occurred after a temporary sand levee broke on the nearby Miho River, which was swollen due to heavy rains.

The Environment Ministry's Geum River Flood Control Office issued a flood warning for the Miho River at 4:10 a.m.

The warning was sent to the North Chungcheong government office and Cheongju City Hall.

Around 6:40, the warning was raised to the top of the four-tier alert system when the water level reached 9.2 meters.

The Heungdeuk District Office also received a call from the Geum River Flood Control Office urging it to evacuate residents and set up roadblocks.

“If the water rises to 50 centimeters [19.6 inches] at the lowest level, we ask the police to set up roadblocks,” a North Chungcheong office official told the JoongAng Ilbo. “However, as the tunnel was filled up in just two to three minutes, physically there wasn’t much time.”

The underpass has drainage pumps that could handle three tons of water per minute.

However, the four pumps failed as heavy rain from Friday had already put them out of commission.

Land Minister Won Hee-ryong, who was at the underpass on Monday, said the government will closely investigate recent accidents that have occurred, including the one at the underpass.

“Each and every case should be taken seriously and requires thorough investigations,” Won said. “Individuals to blame have to take responsibility.”

However, the land minister stressed that it is more important at the current stage to first restore accident sites and console bereaved families.

BY HA JUN-HO, LEE HO-JEONG [lee.hojeong@joongang.co.kr]