Three sanitation workers dead after dump truck, garbage truck collide in Yeongcheon

Three sanitation workers were killed on Wednesday morning after a dump truck collided with a garbage truck at an intersection in Yeongcheon, North Gyeongsang, police said.

The crash, which occurred around 4:03 a.m., severely damaged the front of the 6-ton garbage truck and overturned the 25-ton dump truck onto its left side. The dump truck's driver was also seriously injured and taken to a hospital.

The three sanitation workers who died were employed by a company contracted to handle household waste collection for Yeongcheon city. They were reportedly on their way to their work site for early-morning cleaning duties when the crash occurred.

Police said the two vehicles collided while entering the Dodong intersection, which was operating with flashing signals — a mode used at low-traffic hours that requires drivers to treat the intersection with caution — at the time. The intersection runs on flashing signals from midnight to 5 a.m.

Police are analyzing CCTV footage and dashcam video from the vehicles to determine the exact circumstances of the crash, including the direction each vehicle was traveling.

BY JANG GU-SEUL [lee.jian@joongang.co.kr]