Stabilizers set up on only one side of ladder truck

[South Chungcheong Province Fire Department]
[South Chungcheong Province Fire Department]

An elementary school boy critically injured when a moving ladder truck toppled onto him at an apartment complex has died.

The boy, identified only as A, 7, was walking to school at around 8:38 a.m. Thursday at an apartment complex in Dongnam-gu, Cheonan, South Chungcheong Province, when a moving ladder truck fell and pinned him to the ground. He was rushed to a hospital but died at around 3 p.m. that day.

Police found that workers had extended the ladder to the 11th floor of the 28-story building while securing the truck's stabilizing supports on only one side, rather than both sides as required, causing the ladder to topple.

Police arrested two workers at the scene — a truck driver in his 50s identified as B, and a foreign national in his 20s identified as C — and plan to seek arrest warrants on charges including professional negligence resulting in death.

The investigation revealed that C was in the country illegally. B, fearing C's immigration status would be exposed, initially told police he had carried out all the work himself and now faces an additional charge of harboring a criminal.


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