KTX Train Window Damaged Due to Cold Wave...Power Outages and Fallen Trees Cause Multiple Damages

Korail "No Casualties Reported"

An incident occurred on a KTX train carrying nearly 800 passengers, where a glass window cracked. The cause was the glass weakening due to the cold wave.

At around 10:10 PM on the 16th, the outer glass window of a KTX Sancheon train traveling from Cheonan-Asan Station to Gwangmyeong Station cracked. The KTX passenger car windows are made with a double-layer structure of inner and outer glass, so there were no casualties.

Photo by Yonhap News

The train was a KTX Sancheon composite train departing from Mokpo and Yeosu Expo Station in Jeollanam-do, heading to Haengsin Station in Goyang-si, Gyeonggi Province, with 788 passengers on board.

Korea Railroad Corporation (KORAIL) cited the sharply dropped temperature as the reason for the window damage. The outer glass of the double-pane window had weakened, and while the train was running, a kicked-up gravel stone hit the outer glass, causing it to crack.

On that day, the Cheonan area recorded minus 6.4 degrees Celsius as of 9 PM, with both heavy snow and cold wave warnings in effect.

A KORAIL official stated, "Only the outer glass window cracked, so there was no customer damage or disruption to operation, and the train safely reached its destination," adding, "The glass window will be replaced."

On the same day, due to heavy snow and the cold wave, numerous accidents of varying scales occurred nationwide.

According to Gangwon Special Self-Governing Province on the 16th, from the 14th until 3 PM on that day, there were 31 incidents including one rockfall, 29 fallen trees, and one sewage backflow.

On the morning of the 12th, when heavy snow fell mainly in the mountainous areas of Gangwon, residents were clearing snow in Daegwallyeong-myeon, Pyeongchang-gun, Gangwon.
[Photo by Yonhap News]

In particular, as the temperature dropped sharply, frozen trees could not bear their weight and fell one after another. The fallen trees caused power lines to break, requiring restoration work.

In Gongdan-dong, Gumi-si, factory exterior wall panels fell, and in Pungsan-eup, Andong-si, a house roof was damaged. In Heungdeok-dong, Mungyeong-si, a rain gutter pipe fell off a house.

On the 17th, a snow removal vehicle is waiting near Hangyeryeong Rest Area in Yangyang-gun, Gangwon Province.
[Photo by Yonhap News]

Sudden cold waves also caused a series of accidents due to power outages.

At around 4 AM that day, a power outage occurred in an apartment complex in Howon-dong, Uijeongbu-si, Gyeonggi Province, due to an internal equipment failure, leaving 500 households without electricity for over 11 hours, causing inconvenience.

In Chungbuk, a power outage also occurred at a movie theater. In Yongam-dong, Cheongju, Chungbuk, a series of short power outages happened, leading many moviegoers to demand refunds.

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