The site of a flea market in Anseong, Gyeonggi Province, where a truck plowed into a crowd of volunteers Saturday. [Gyeonggi Fire and Disaster Headquarters]
The site of a flea market in Anseong, Gyeonggi Province, where a truck plowed into a crowd of volunteers Saturday. [Gyeonggi Fire and Disaster Headquarters]

A one-ton truck plowed into a flea market in Anseong, Gyeonggi Province, on Saturday morning, killing a woman in her 40s and her middle school-aged son who had come to volunteer at the event.

Five others were also injured in the crash. All seven casualties were volunteers who had gathered to help run the event, according to authorities.

Fire and police authorities and Yonhap said the truck, loaded with secondhand goods, barreled into a crowd at around 11:18 a.m. at a flea market held in front of Gongdo Library in Gongdo-eup, Anseong, striking seven people.

The mother and her teenage son were rushed to hospital in cardiac arrest but were pronounced dead.

Three others — a woman and a man in their 20s and a man in his 60s — were taken to hospital with injuries including leg fractures, while two more, including a woman in her 50s who showed signs of respiratory distress, received emergency treatment at the scene.

At the time of the accident, a number of people had gathered at the venue to prepare for the event ahead of its scheduled opening. The event was the "2026 Green Sharing Market," organized by the city of Anseong and run by the Anseong Sustainable Development Council.

The Anseong Green Market is an annual event aimed at reducing resource waste through reuse, protecting the environment, and promoting a culture of sharing and community activities.

Closed-circuit television footage from near the scene showed the truck suddenly driving about 25 meters into the park.

The vehicle smashed through tables and tents set up at the venue, struck the mother and son head-on as they stood beneath a tent, and came to a stop only after colliding with a metal post at the outer edge of the event grounds.

The truck is owned by the city of Anseong and was painted with slogans and illustrations promoting resource recycling.

The driver, identified only by his surname A and in his 60s, initially told police at the scene that the accident occurred while he was pulling over on a road near the park to unload secondhand goods for the event. He later changed his account at the police station, saying he had been trying to park inside the park to promote the vehicle.

He also gave conflicting accounts of the cause, first saying he had mistaken the accelerator for the brake, then later claiming the vehicle had suddenly accelerated on its own.

Police arrested A on the spot and, after questioning, applied for an arrest warrant on charges of causing death and injury under the Act on Special Cases Concerning the Settlement of Traffic Accidents.

Investigators said A had not been drinking or under the influence of drugs at the time of the accident.

Police also plan to send the truck to the National Forensic Service for a detailed technical examination to determine the cause of the crash.


mss@heraldcorp.com