[Herald DB]
[Herald DB]

A man in his 80s who fell from his electric wheelchair while returning home and was unable to get up has died.

According to the Gimje Police Station in North Jeolla Province, a report came in around 2:30 p.m. Wednesday that a person had collapsed beside a wheelchair in an alley in Geomsan-dong, Gimje.

Firefighters and other emergency responders who arrived at the scene found the man, identified only by the surname initial A, already dead nearby.

Police reviewed closed-circuit television footage from the area and found that A had gone out around lunchtime and, while maneuvering his wheelchair on the way home, struck a wall and fell onto the road.

Unable to get back into the wheelchair on his own due to limited mobility, A lay on the sun-exposed road for nearly two hours before dying.

"After falling from his wheelchair, he was not found and was left on the road in the middle of the day," a police official said. "He is believed to have died from heat-related illness."


123@heraldcorp.com