Ignoring Designs Leads to Fatal Landslide That Killed Resident

Individuals from a construction company who carried out solar power plant construction differently from the approved design, resulting in a fatal landslide during torrential rain that killed a resident, have both been sentenced to prison terms with probation.

Chuncheon District Court Criminal Division 2 announced that it dismissed the appeals filed by A, the actual representative of the civil engineering contractor for the solar power plant, and B, the site manager, who were indicted on charges of professional negligence resulting in death, upholding the original ruling that sentenced each to eight months in prison with two years of probation.

Between October 2017 and January of the following year, while conducting civil engineering work in the area of Dunnae-myeon, Hoengseong-gun, the two men informed the developer side that the work required cutting and piling a much larger amount of soil than originally designed, which would take more time and cost.

However, the developer side instructed A and B to swiftly finish the construction by arbitrarily changing the design details without permission from the competent administrative agency.

Consequently, the two men proceeded with the construction by maintaining natural slopes instead of the originally planned dry-stacked stone retaining wall method.

A and others piled up the excavated soil to a height of 10 meters instead of the originally planned 2 meters, and failed to conduct safety inspections on the resulting slopes.

The construction site had experienced torrential rain in the past, and resident C's house was located at the foot of the mountain slope.

Ultimately, on August 9, 2022, torrential rain near the solar power plant construction site caused a massive amount of soil to wash down with rainwater, engulfing resident C's house and resulting in C's death.

Continuing from the first trial, the defendants argued in the second trial as well that there was no causal relationship between the construction activities and the fatal accident, but the court rejected this based on site photographs and other evidence.

The fact that experts in forestry, geology, and forest engineering analyzed that rainwater concentrated intensively on the filled slopes due to torrential rain, weakening the ground and initiating the collapse, also served as the basis for the guilty verdict.

The court explained that the developer side had an economic motive to shorten the construction period and reduce interest on construction loans exceeding 1.8 billion won, while A and B accepted the developer's demands out of self-interest to maintain their subcontracting contract.

A and B, who were found guilty in both the first and second trials, have filed an appeal.

D, the solar power plant project developer, and E, the site manager, were also sent to trial on the same charges, receiving sentences of one year and two months in prison with two years of probation, and one year in prison with two years of probation, respectively, in the first trial.

As the two did not appeal following the first-instance ruling, their sentences have been finalized.

(Photo: Yonhap News)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.