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2 dead, 18 injured after truck crashes through Bucheon market

Published: 13 Nov. 2025, 16:08 Updated: 13 Nov. 2025, 16:35

A truck crashed into Jeil Market, a traditional market in Bucheon, Gyeonggi, around 10:55 a.m. on Nov. 13, injuring at least 20 people, including two people found unconscious who later died at a hospital. [YONHAP]

A truck barreled through a crowded traditional market in Bucheon, Gyeonggi, on Thursday morning, killing two people and injuring at least 18 others after the driver said his brakes failed, according to the police.

Officers arrested the driver on charges of causing fatal injury under the Act on Special Cases Concerning the Settlement of Traffic Accidents. They said he showed no signs of intoxication and will undergo additional drug testing.

The truck accelerated around 10:55 a.m. in Jeil Market in Wonjong-dong, traveling roughly 150 meters (490 feet) through a narrow lane packed with shoppers and vendors, according to police and fire authorities. Surveillance footage showed the vehicle backing up slowly before it shot forward without its brake lights activating.

Two people who were found unconscious died at nearby hospitals. Nine others suffered serious injuries and nine had minor wounds.

Sim Myeong-sun, head of the Ojeong Public Health Center in Bucheon, said authorities “identified a total of 20 casualties” and “believe the vehicle caused heavy casualties after it surged into the pedestrian walkway.”

Fire authorities said they received a witness report that “the truck rammed into market shops” and sent crews to the scene. They arrived three minutes after the first call and deployed 60 responders. Paramedics sent the injured to Soonchunhyang University Hospital and other medical centers.

A store selling jeon (savory Korean pancakes) in Jeil Market is in disarray after a truck crashed into the traditional market in Bucheon, Gyeonggi, on Nov. 13. [NEWS1]

The crash left fruit crates, boxes and glass fragments scattered across the market. Surveillance footage captured vendors running for cover as the truck barreled past.

“At first I thought a bomb had gone off,” a rice cake vendor surnamed Lee said. “The truck shot forward like lightning and people were down on the ground.”

“The driver kept saying the brakes didn't work and that he was in shock.”

“The truck came from far away and people fell everywhere,” a seafood seller surnamed Park said. “Some people tripped as they tried to get out of the way.”

“The accident happened just as my husband stepped into another shop,” a resident surnamed Gong said. “If he had been outside at that moment, something terrible could have happened.”

Fire authorities assist merchants and pedestrians affected by a truck crash in Jeil Market in Bucheon, Gyeonggi, on Nov. 13. [NEWS1]

Police said the driver had just unloaded goods at the entrance of the market and reversed about 28 meters before the vehicle suddenly surged forward. He was not seriously injured.

“He finished unloading, reversed to move the truck back, and then it suddenly shot [forward],” the driver's wife said.

“He panicked and screamed while trying to stop the truck,” the driver's brother added.

Investigators suspect the driver stepped on the wrong pedal, noting from surveillance footage that the brake lights never activated. Police sent the truck to the National Forensic Service and the Korea Road Traffic Authority for analysis and plan to review data from the vehicle's black box.

Clothes are scattered on the floor in Jeil Market, a traditional market in Bucheon, Gyeonggi, where a truck caused a crash on Nov. 13. [YONHAP]

This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.
BY MOON SANG-HYEOK, IM SOUNG-BIN, KIM CHANG-YONG [[email protected]]