Police [Yonhap]
Police [Yonhap]

At a lodging facility in Busan, two foreigners fell while trying to escape, leaving one dead and the other seriously injured. They had entered South Korea to work but were reportedly being kept from leaving the premises.

According to the Busan Sasang Police Station, two Indonesian men — identified only as A, in his 20s, and B, in his 30s — fell from the eighth floor of a motel in Gamdong-dong, Sasang-gu, at around 3:23 a.m. Tuesday.

A died from the fall. B suffered serious injuries including fractures and was taken to a hospital, where he is receiving treatment.

The two men tore bedding from their room into strips to fashion a makeshift rope, hung it from a window and attempted to climb down from the eighth floor before falling.

They had entered South Korea after signing seafarer employment contracts with an agency and were staying temporarily at the motel while awaiting departure to another country.

Police believe the men were trying to flee the accommodation to remain in the country illegally. The agency reportedly arranged the lodging and kept watch over the men out of concern they might abandon their seafarer contracts and become undocumented migrants.

The room door was confirmed to have been locked from the outside at the time of the incident. Police are investigating the full circumstances of the accident, including whether the agency's actions constitute unlawful confinement.


bbo@heraldcorp.com