Prosecutors launch raids over deaths in flooded underpass

Prosecutors raided multiple police and local government offices on Monday in connection to the recent flooding of an underpass in Cheongju, North Chungcheong, which claimed 14 lives.

Right, an official with the prosecution’s probe team investigating the deadly underpass in Osong-eup of Cheongju, North Chungcheong, carries boxes into the Chungbuk Provincial Police in Cheongju on Monday during a raid to collect evidence. [YONHAP]

Prosecutors raided multiple police and local government offices on Monday in connection to the recent flooding of an underpass in Cheongju, North Chungcheong, which claimed 14 lives.

The North Chungcheong provincial government, North Chungcheong police agency, North Chungcheong fire service, Cheongju city government and a police station representing Heungdeok District, Cheongju, were raided.

So was the National Agency for Administrative City Construction, an organization affiliated with the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport responsible for overseeing the architectural planning of Sejong, the country’s de-facto administrative capital.

The raids came nine days after an underpass in Osong-eup of Heungdeok District, Cheongju, was submerged by a flooded river as heavy monsoon rains pounded the region, trapping 17 vehicles inside, including a bus.

A search and rescue operation went on for two days, concluding in 14 fatalities.

The blame game started soon after, as the Office for Government Policy Coordination, which supervises each central government agency, pointed the finger at Heungdeok Police Precinct.

Heungdeok police officers have been accused of lying about their whereabouts that day and submitting false reports to the Office for Government Policy Coordination.

Officials in the Office for Government Policy Coordination have told local reporters that the North Chungcheong police agency’s situation room notified the Heungdeok Police Precinct of possible dangers at the underpass on the day of the accident.

Heungdeok police officers never went to the scene but internally reported that they did and handled the situation, said the Office for Government Policy Coordination.

The prosecution’s probe, composed of at least 17 prosecutors, was initiated by an order from the Office for Government Policy Coordination and is separate from a police investigation looking into the same accident.

The police investigation team is composed of over 100 police officers but has yet to raid a single agency.

The 14 people killed in the Osong underpass were among at least 47 people who died this month due to the torrential rains. Most deaths were in North Gyeongsang and North Chungcheong.

According to the national weather agency, rain clouds will once again ascend this week, soaking the Chungcheong and southern regions on Tuesday.

The Seoul metropolitan area of Seoul, Incheon and Gyeonggi will get soaked on Wednesday, weather officials said.

By Wednesday, the country’s central regions including the Seoul metropolitan area are expected to receive some 10 to 60 millimeters (0.4 to 2.4 inches) of rain, while the southern regions are anticipated to get 30 to 80 millimeters.

The hardest hit areas were predicted to be southern Gyeonggi, southern South Chungcheong, Gwangju, South Jeolla, North Jeolla and the southern coastline of western South Gyeongsang. These areas could receive some 80 to upwards of 120 millimeters of rain, said the Korea Meteorological Administration.

Exactly when the monsoon season will end is unknown. This year’s monsoon season officially began on June 25. In previous years, monsoons usually began in late June and lasted for a month before making way for several weeks of sweltering heat.

Even if the monsoon soon ends, weather officials said there still was the possibility of typhoons, like on Aug. 8, 2022, when roads in the Seoul metropolitan area were severely inundated.

BY LEE SUNG-EUN,HA JUN-HO [lee.sungeun@joongang.co.kr]