Officials made "round-robin calls" to Osong disaster victims' families... "Only responses were 'I don't know'"

Family of Victims in Osong Underpass Disaster, MBC Interview
"Officials Say They Don't Know Where the Control Tower Is"

"When I went to the Chungcheongbuk-do homepage and made a call, they told me to call another department, and that department told me to call yet another one. Finally, I was able to speak with one staff member in the Chungcheongbuk-do Road Division, who is in charge rather than a control center. They said they were currently out at the site."

The bereaved family of the victims of the Osong Underpass disaster in Chungbuk said this in an interview with MBC Radio's 'Kim Jong-bae's Focus' on the 20th. Despite the urgent need for the bereaved family to resolve the accident, the officials caused frustration by making them go through a so-called 'roundabout phone call' process. The family, who lost their mother-in-law in the disaster, tried to find out where the control tower related to the Osong Underpass disaster was, but faced difficulties.

The bereaved family member, who requested anonymity, said, "When I contacted my wife, I first called Cheongju City Hall, then Heungdeok District Office, the local Western Fire Station, and Osong-eup Office, but most of them did not know where the control tower for this accident was or any details about it."

[Image source=Yonhap News]

The family member said, "So I went to the site, and near the site by the Miho River, the police were controlling the road flooded by water. But that was around 8:30 to 8:40 p.m. I asked the police officers who were controlling the barricades how to get to the accident site. They said they were only responsible for road control and did not know."

The family member explained, "Other people who seemed to be families of missing persons kept coming even after I arrived, but they all said they didn't know anything. Feeling frustrated, I noticed that right next to the accident site and the road control area was the Heungdeok District Office of Cheongju City. I ran over there and found three staff members on duty."

The family member said, "Yes, the district office is only a few hundred meters from the accident site, but only three people were working there. When I asked how to get to the accident site and where the overall control tower for this accident was, they said they didn't know. Even though 12 hours had passed since the accident, the district office staff right nearby were unaware of the situation."

[Image source=Yonhap News]

The family member expressed frustration, saying, "The fire station didn't know, the police officers at the entrance didn't know, the district office staff didn't know, and the city hall staff didn't know. Then how can ordinary citizens know who is responding right now? If these people don't know, then..."

The family member continued, "As time passed, in the morning, my wife heard that if the bodies were recovered first, they would all be brought to Hana Hospital in Heungdeok District. All the families of the missing were gathered there, but not a single official was present."

The family member said, "In the morning at Hana Hospital, no staff members?whether from the provincial government or city hall?were there. So around 1 a.m. after midnight on the 16th, I contacted a provincial government employee again," adding, "During the funeral, all the families held the ceremonies individually. Although some government employees did show up, they did not provide any assistance."

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