Kim Jong-cheol, acting commissioner general of the Korean National Police Agency, called for all-out support for the treatment and recovery of a police officer who was seriously injured while clearing a highway crash scene.
The agency said on the 24th that Kim, after being briefed on the accident on the Yeongdong Expressway in Yeoju, Gyeonggi Province, instructed officials to do everything possible to support the officer's treatment, rehabilitation and return to daily life. He also ordered support for the officer's family and for colleagues who had worked alongside the officer.
"It is the organization's clear duty to support officers to the end so that those injured while protecting public safety can focus on treatment and recovery," Kim said. The agency said it plans to work with related ministries to expand support for officers injured in the line of duty.
The accident occurred at about 4 a.m. on the 24th near the Yeoju rest area on the Incheon-bound side of the Yeongdong Expressway. A senior inspector surnamed A, assigned to the Gyeonggi Nambu Provincial Police Agency's highway patrol unit, was struck by a 6.5-ton truck while directing traffic. At the time, a vehicle had crashed into a large trailer that had overturned on the road, setting off a fire. The officer, who had responded to a report of the crash, was hit in a secondary collision while clearing the scene. Seriously injured, the senior inspector was taken to Ajou University Hospital and underwent emergency surgery. The officer's life is not in danger, according to the agency.
Traffic accidents have occurred in succession on expressways in the southern Gyeonggi region. At about 5:30 p.m. the previous day, two trucks and two passenger cars collided in the Gwanggyo soundproof tunnel on the Gangneung-bound side of the Yeongdong Expressway in Yeongtong District, Suwon. A man in his 50s driving a 1-ton truck was killed, and one occupant of another vehicle suffered minor injuries. Police are investigating the detailed circumstances of both accidents.