Five HDC Hyundai Development Company Officials Charged with Arrest Warrants in 'Gwangju Collapse Accident'

Warrant Hearing to Be Held Within This Week

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Park Jin-hyung] The police investigating the collapse accident at Hwajeong I-Park in Seo-gu, Gwangju Metropolitan City have taken steps to detain five officials from the construction company HDC Hyundai Development Company.

The investigation headquarters for the collapse accident at the newly constructed apartment in Seo-gu, Gwangju (Gwangju Police Agency) announced on the 14th that they have requested arrest warrants for five safety management officials from Hyundai Development Company, including the site manager and those responsible for construction and quality, on charges of professional negligence resulting in death or injury and violations of the Building Act.

The prosecution accepted the police request and filed the warrants with the court, and the pre-trial detention hearings (warrant hearings) are scheduled to be held within this week.

Recently, after receiving a "Disaster Investigation Opinion Report" from the Korea Occupational Safety and Health Agency, the police appear to have identified the correlation between negligence charges and scientific causes of the accident to some extent.

Including those for whom warrants have been requested, a total of 19 people, including subcontractor representatives and supervisors, have been criminally charged.

It is expected that additional detention measures will soon be taken against subcontractor officials and supervisors as well.

The police pointed to the main causes of the collapse accident as ▲ the unauthorized installation of seven reverse braces (vertical walls) due to 'arbitrary structural changes' and ▲ the occurrence of 'excessive load' caused by concrete debris falling while the supporting props (dongbari) were missing.

In addition, poor quality of concrete samples secured through on-site inspections and reduced bonding strength with rebar were also cited as causes.

The accident occurred around 3:46 p.m. on January 11, when part of Building 201 of the apartment collapsed from the 38th floor down to the 23rd floor. As a result, six workers who were working at the site died.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.