Falling cargo from truck kills driver on Pyeongtaek-Jecheon Expressway

A driver was killed after cargo fell from a truck onto the Pyeongtaek-Jecheon Expressway in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi Province.

According to the highway patrol unit of the Gyeonggi Southern Police Agency, the accident occurred around 4:02 a.m. Thursday near the Songtan interchange on the expressway heading toward Anseong, when cargo dropped from a 25-ton truck and struck vehicles traveling behind it.

The accident began when a steel coil fell from the truck onto the road. A Kia Carnival minivan struck the debris and was thrown off course in the initial collision, after which a Hyundai Staria van and a trailer hit the Carnival in a secondary crash.

The driver of the Carnival, a man in his 50s, died at the scene. The truck driver sustained minor injuries, including a fractured finger. A total of 22 people — passengers in the vehicles involved and drivers of other cars on the road — were evacuated amid the chaos.

Police plan to investigate the truck driver and others to determine what caused the cargo to fall and establish the full circumstances of the accident.