Driver under investigation for crashing car through glass wall, into indoor swimming pool

An older driver who crashed her car into an indoor swimming pool is under investigation, the police said on Sunday.

The accident occurred at the Hanam sports center in Miryang, South Gyeongsang, at around 10:18 a.m. on Saturday, according to the Gyeongnam Provincial Police Agency.

The woman reportedly drove the car through a glass wall at the fitness center, and the vehicle fell about 4 to 5 meters (13 to 16 feet) into the indoor swimming pool, which includes seven 25-meter lanes and a shallower children’s section.

Police identified the driver as a member of the center’s swimming pool club. They believe the accident occurred as she was pulling out of the parking lot and heading home. 

Eight to 10 people, including an instructor, were swimming in the pool at the time of the accident, but no one was in the area where the car fell. One woman was scratched by broken glass, but her injury is not believed by authorities to be serious. 

The car fell at an almost 90-degree angle, first striking the edge of the pool with its hood — as if standing vertically — before flipping onto its roof and into the water. Those in the pool reported being initially shocked, but they managed to rescue the driver once they realized that she was still in the vehicle.

The driver was conscious at the time of the rescue and complained of chest pain before being taken to a hospital.

Security camera footage of the sports complex’s outdoor parking lot shows the car parked at ground level and facing the building. As it reverses out of its parking space, it collides with another vehicle, which had been moving slowly behind it. 

After the collision, the first car appears to accelerate forward through the flower bed located between the parking space and the center’s glass wall, police said.

There was a curb of about 10 centimeters (4 inches) separating the parking lot and flower bed, but no fences, bollards or other barriers that could have stopped a vehicle from crashing through the wall.

The sports center, built by the Miryang city government, comprises two floors above ground and two below. It opened in July 2024. The facility has passed three regular safety inspections since its construction without receiving recommendations for additional improvements.

“We plan to question those involved in the accident, including the driver, and conduct an on-site inspection starting on Monday,” a police official said. “We will determine the exact cause of the accident and closely examine whether there were any structural problems.”

This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.

BY KIM MIN-JU [kim.jiye@joongang.co.kr]