Elementary Student Dies After Moving Ladder Truck Topples in Cheonan

A first-grade elementary school student died after being crushed by a toppled moving ladder truck while walking to school inside an apartment complex in Cheonan, South Chungcheong Province.

According to police, the 7-year-old boy, identified only by his surname A, was pinned by the fallen ladder truck at about 8:38 a.m. the previous day as he headed to school inside an apartment complex in Cheonan's Dongnam District, police and other officials said on the 27th.

The boy was taken to a hospital immediately after the accident but died at about 3 p.m. that day.

A police investigation found that the workers should have deployed stabilizing outriggers on both sides of the ladder truck to keep it balanced, but had secured only one side while carrying out the work.

The truck lost its balance as the crew was extending the ladder to the 11th floor of the 28-story apartment building, according to the investigation.

Police made emergency arrests at the scene of two people: the ladder truck operator, a man in his 50s identified as B, and a foreign national in his 20s identified as C. Police plan to seek arrest warrants for the pair on charges including occupational negligence resulting in death.

C was confirmed to be staying in the country illegally.

B also told police in initial questioning that he had performed all of the work himself, a false statement made out of concern that C's immigration status would be exposed, investigators found. Police added a charge of harboring a criminal against B.