Company CEO Arrested for Illegal Modification of Election Campaign Bus Causing 3 Casualties

Prosecutors Determine Carbon Monoxide Entered Bus Interior Due to Lack of Ventilation Facilities

On the morning of February 16, at Cheongdang-dong, Dongnam-gu, Cheonan-si, Chungnam, the police and the National Forensic Service jointly inspected the campaign bus of Ahn Cheol-soo, the presidential candidate of the People’s Party, at the Cheonan Dongnam Police Station.
[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Yoon Seul-gi] The CEO of a special vehicle modification company was arrested and indicted for causing casualties, including a driver, by failing to install ventilation facilities and other safety measures inside an election campaign bus.

The Cheonan Branch of the Daejeon District Prosecutors' Office, Women's, Violent, and Economic Crime Division (Chief Prosecutor Han Jin-hee), announced on the 30th that they had arrested and indicted Mr. A (45), the CEO of the special vehicle modification company, on charges of violating the Automobile Management Act. The company's technical director, Mr. B (43), was indicted without detention on charges of professional negligence causing injury and death.

They are accused of causing the deaths of a driver operating a presidential election campaign vehicle and two regional committee members of the People's Party due to carbon monoxide poisoning at 5:24 p.m. on February 15 in Cheonan, Chungnam.

The prosecution believes that although they installed a generator in the bus cargo compartment to operate an LED electronic display and speakers outside the bus, they failed to install ventilation facilities for the carbon monoxide generated by the generator, which allowed the carbon monoxide to enter the interior of the bus.

As a result of this accident, two people inside the bus died from carbon monoxide poisoning during the campaign process in Cheonan and Wonju, and one person suffered injuries including hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy.

Mr. A is also charged with installing LED electronic displays and speakers on 16 promotional buses without registering with the relevant authorities.

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