Home > National > Social Affairs

3 dead, 6 injured in Cheongju car accident

Published: 31 Mar. 2025, 15:31

The wreckage of a compact car is seen in Cheongju, North Chungcheong after the driver of a Hyundai Sonata crashed into it killing three people and injuring six others on March 30. [NEWS1]

Police have launched an investigation into a deadly car crash in Cheongju, North Chungcheong, that left three people dead after a sedan traveling on the wrong side of the road collided with a stationary compact car at a set of traffic lights.

A Hyundai Sonata driven by a woman in her 70s veered into oncoming traffic and struck a compact car that was waiting to make a left turn, at 12:42 p.m. on Sunday in Sugok-dong, Cheongju, North Chungcheong.

All three people in the compact car — a driver and two passengers, all in their 80s — were killed. The impact pushed the vehicle into two nearby cars waiting in adjacent lanes, causing a chain-reaction collision that injured six people, including the driver of the Sonata.

Police said they plan to visit the hospitalized Sonata driver on Sunday to take a formal statement and will charge her with manslaughter under the Act on Special Cases Concerning the Settlement of Traffic Accidents.

The driver claimed that her car suddenly accelerated on its own. However, investigators found that the Sonata traveled approximately one kilometer (0.62 miles) from a gas station — where it had just exited after a car wash — to the crash site without stopping.

The vehicle travelled around 300 meters on the wrong side of the road.

According to police, the brake lights were not activated at any point during the car’s movement leading up to the crash, although they had functioned properly at the gas station prior to the incident.

To determine whether a mechanical failure was involved, police plan to request a vehicle analysis from the National Forensic Service.

Translated from the JoongAng Ilbo using generative AI and edited by Korea JoongAng Daily staff.

BY HAN YOUNG-HYE [[email protected]]