Grief engulfs families after predawn crash kills three sanitation workers

YEONGCHEON, North Gyeongsang — Only shock and grief remained after three sanitation workers were killed Wednesday while heading out before dawn to begin their early-morning cleaning shift.

At a funeral home in Yeongcheon, a woman crumpled to the floor and wept uncontrollably. Believed to be the mother of one of the victims, she looked as if she had rushed out the door upon hearing the news, with whatever clothes she could quickly put on and only sandals on her feet.

“Why are you smiling like that from there?” the mother called out her son’s name over and over while sobbing. “What am I supposed to do now?”

Mourners at the funeral home were at a loss for words and could only watch.

The monitor displayed the names of three sanitation workers who had died in the same vehicle on their way to work for the morning shift in the early hours of Wednesday. As their 6-ton garbage truck made a left turn at an intersection in Yeongcheon, it collided with a 25-ton dump truck approaching from the opposite direction.

The crash occurred at about 4:03 a.m. Wednesday at the Dodong intersection in Yeongcheon, according to the local police station and other authorities. In the city, three waste collection contractors divide five neighborhoods into three service zones, with each company deploying three-person crews to collect household waste.

The crash killed three workers surnamed Han, Jeong and Woo, all of whom were employed by a private contractor commissioned by the city of Yeongcheon to collect household waste.

“Han served for many years as union chairman while working as a municipal sanitation worker and dedicated to improving union members’ wages, benefits and working conditions,” a former colleague said. “Han was diligent, conscientious and deeply devoted to fellow workers, so former colleagues are all mourning the loss.

The former colleague added that Han wanted to keep working after retirement and found another job with a waste collection company.

The crash also seriously injured the dump truck driver, who suffered severe lower-body injuries as the vehicle’s frame was crushed inward. The driver later underwent emergency surgery at a hospital in Daegu, police said.

At 11 a.m. Wednesday, about seven hours after the crash, the intersection still bore stark signs of the collision. After colliding with the garbage truck, the dump truck struck a traffic signal pole and overturned. Hours later, the shattered pole still lay beside the road as workers cleared debris from the crash site and repaired the damaged signal.

Several branches had also been broken from trees near the intersection. Dirt that had spilled from the overturned dump truck remained scattered across the roadway. With the traffic signal out of service, police officers stood in the intersection and directed vehicles by hand.

The two vehicles were later towed to a vacant lot in Gyeongsan, North Gyeongsang. Their mangled frames were barely recognizable after the crash. The garbage truck had been torn apart by the force of the collision, which separated the front cab from the rear cargo section. The dump truck was also crumpled almost beyond recognition.

The intersection, where the crash took place, operates with flashing traffic signals between midnight and 5 a.m. The signals were flashing at the time of the crash. Authorities believe the two vehicles — one traveling straight and the other making a left turn — failed to see each other before colliding, police added.

The dump truck driver was not believed to have been under the influence of alcohol at the time of the crash. Police plan to determine the exact circumstances of the collision by reviewing closed-circuit television footage and dashboard camera recordings.

BY BAEK KYUNG-SEO, KIM JUNG-SEOK [lee.soojung1@joongang.co.kr]