Kim Dong-yeon, Disaster Drill at Suwon Station 6 Months Ago... "Reduced Damage from Reverse Driving at Sunae Station"

Gyeonggi Province Governor Kim Dong-yeon posted a photo and a message on his SNS on the 8th regarding the escalator reverse-running incident at Sunae Station.

The escalator reverse operation accident at Sunae Station in Bundang, Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province on the 8th, which injured 14 people, could have led to a much larger disaster, including fatalities. However, thanks to the prompt and appropriate response of firefighters who quickly arrived at the scene, a bigger accident was prevented.

Some analysts believe that Gyeonggi Province Governor Kim Dong-yeon’s determination that such incidents must never happen again after last year’s 'Itaewon tragedy' played a significant role in the response to this accident. Two months after the tragedy, in December of last year, a large-scale 'Social Disaster Gyeonggi Province Agency Joint Drill' was held at Lotte Mall in Suwon Station, with all disaster-related agencies participating.

Following the Itaewon tragedy, Gyeonggi Province conducted a response drill on December 8th last year at the Lotte Mall near Suwon Station, simulating a scenario where an escalator descending from the 2nd floor to the 1st floor runs in reverse, causing a crush accident.

The drill began with dozens of people trapped in a line on an escalator less than 2 meters wide, screaming for help. The dispatched fire rescue team arrived within about 10 minutes to carry out rescue operations and evacuated citizens inside the department store and Lotte Mall. They then classified the victims into emergency and urgent categories, performed cardiopulmonary resuscitation, and quickly transported them to hospitals.

The drill was directly applied to the recent accident. According to the Gyeonggi Fire Headquarters, at around 8:20 a.m. on the day of the accident, a report was received that a 9-meter-long ascending escalator at exit 2 of Sunae Station suddenly reversed direction. The rescue team from Seohyeon 119 Safety Center of Bundang Fire Station, located closest to Sunae Station, immediately dispatched and arrived at the scene at 8:23 a.m., just 3 minutes later.

They reported the situation to the National Fire Agency and set up a temporary emergency medical station. The Seohyeon rescue team moved 14 injured people to the emergency medical station, provided basic first aid, and assessed the severity of their injuries to classify the level of urgency. Severity classification is an essential measure in mass casualty incidents to understand the condition of the injured and determine the order of hospital transport.

The Seohyeon rescue team also checked the status and bed availability of nearby hospitals to prepare for distributing and transporting the injured accordingly.

The Gyeonggi Fire Headquarters completed all first aid and transport preparations by 8:41 a.m., just 21 minutes after the accident occurred.

Kim Jin-wook, spokesperson for Gyeonggi Province, stated, "The Social Disaster Gyeonggi Province Agency Joint Drill held at Suwon Station last December was conducted in three scenarios, the first of which was a drill simulating exactly the same situation as the escalator reverse operation at Sunae Station this time. Watching the accident and response, we realized once again how crucial realistic drills are when actual accidents occur."

Governor Kim Dong-yeon posted on his social media on the day, saying, "(This morning) around 8 a.m., there was an escalator reverse operation accident at Sunae Station. Gyeonggi Province firefighters quickly arrived, provided emergency treatment to the injured, and transported them to hospitals. The fire authorities are investigating the cause of the incident, and we will thoroughly inspect to prevent similar accidents from recurring," he promised.

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