[Subtitle News] Middle School Student Dies After Falling into 'Death Trap' in Local Stream

A tragic accident has occurred in Haemicheon Stream in Seosan, South Chungcheong Province, leaving one middle school student dead and another in critical condition.

The stream was a place students frequently visited and was known to be shallow. However, for reasons yet to be determined, a specific section reached a depth of approximately 2 meters (about 6.6 feet), sparking controversy over the cause of the accident.

On the afternoon of June 19, at 5:16 p.m., two first-year middle school students fell into the water at Haemicheon Stream in Eupnae-ri, Haemi-myeon, Seosan.

Following a report from a citizen stating that "middle school students are drowning in Haemicheon," fire authorities arrived at the scene in just four minutes. They rescued the two students, identified as A and B, and performed CPR, but student A ultimately passed away.

Student B was transported to a hospital and is reportedly in critical condition with water in her lungs.

It was determined that the two students were on their way home from school and had stepped into the water with their skirts tucked up to play, as they had done before, when the tragedy occurred.

They were familiar with the stream, which typically reached only adult knee height, but they lost their balance and fell into the water because the bottom of a specific section suddenly dropped off.

When police measured the water depth at the scene, the deepest part of the pit was found to be 1.97 meters (about 6.5 feet).

This depth is well over the height of an average adult male.

A nearby resident said, "The section of the stream where the accident occurred was never deep," adding, "Isn't it possible that someone artificially dug it out, creating a 'death trap'?"

The bereaved family is raising suspicions that the city of Seosan may have excessively excavated the stream bed during recent flood recovery work.

The father of the deceased student stated, "The water depth should change gradually, but the bottom is cut at a right angle," adding, "This is clear evidence that heavy machinery came in and scraped away the soil."

He further argued that although Haemicheon, which was usually shallow, had been dug to a depth of 2 meters due to the construction, there were no warning signs or notices, which failed to prevent the accident.

It is reported that the city of Seosan and the construction company maintain that the actual site of the accident was not within the original scope of the construction and that no work was done to dig up the stream bed.

The police plan to launch an investigation into whether there was any negligence in supervision by the local government and whether the construction company violated safety management regulations.

Reported by Kim Minjeong | Video by Jang Yujin | Graphics by Yang Hyemin | Produced by SBS Digital News
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.