A motorboat accident killed one and injured four on Saturday in Yangpyeong, Gyeonggi Province.
The victims were students from The University of Oxford having a summer retreat at a private villa.
According to the Gyeonggi Yangpyeong Police, a speedboat carrying four students crashed into the pier on Saturday around 4:50 p.m. as it was making a sharp turn. Nine people on the pier were swept-up in the collision.
(YTN YouTube capture)
The deceased, Kim, 24, was one of the nine on the pier. He fell into the water during the chaotic crash unnoticed by his friends and drowned.
The police presumed he was hit by one of the passengers who flew out from the boat from the impact.
The group immediately reported the accident to the police but only belatedly realized Kim’s disappearance and reported him as missing. The police found Kim’s body near the pier on Sunday around 3:20 a.m.
Kim is presumed to have lost consciousness in the fall, which made him unable to call for help.
Seventeen Oxford students were staying at the villa in Yangpyeong belonging to one of the students’ father, who is reportedly a president at a Korean conglomerate.
The accident occurred at a villaside pier along the Bukhan River in Seojong-myeon, Yangpyeong-gun.
The police booked the motorboat operator Jeon, 55, on Tuesday under charges of professional negligence.
Jeon reportedly told the police he made an honest misjudgment in calculating the angle of the boat’s turn.
He is a certified motorboat operator with seven years’ experience.
The police said neither Jeon nor the students were under the influence of alcohol at the time of the accident and said that they plan to pass Jeon’s case to the prosecutors for opinion on indictment.
By Lim Jeong-yeo (kaylalim@heraldcorp.com)
