Subway Construction Suspected in Incheon Street Collapse

Police are investigating a road which has collapsed above a subway construction site in Incheon. On the 18th of February at 3:20pm, the center of a six lane road collapsed in front of an apartment building in Wanggil-dong, a suburb in the western district of Incheon. Sadly, a 50 year old man riding a motorcycle over the piece of road at the time of collapse fell into the hole but died several hours later in hospital. Water was cut to several thousand households in Wanggil-dong and neighbouring Oryu-dong, but was restored later that night. Police are focusing on CCTV footage and have maintained a detour around the site while carrying out their investigation.

Below the road, the tunnel for Incheon’s line number 2 was being dug out and police suspect that construction somehow caused the road foundations to become weak. Construction on Incheon’s second line began in June 2009 and is expected to be completed in 2014. Wanggil-dong is located on the northern part of the subway line which will continue south and provide new rail access to the many areas of Incheon still without it. Depending on the results of the investigation into the incident, Incheon may see itself having to wait even longer for the new line. Incheon’s first inner city subway was opened in 1999.

Watch out for a more detailed post on Incheon’s Line 2 in the future.

Sources: Yonhap News | KBS World | Daum Maps