Regarding a recent foreign seaman's fatal fall at a motel in Busan, police have booked site managers on charges of confinement and launched a full-scale investigation.

The Metropolitan Investigation Unit of the Busan National Police Agency announced today (July 24) that a total of four people, including the head of a ship agency operator surnamed A and two security firm officials, have been booked without detention on charges of confinement and are currently under investigation.

A and the others are accused of managing the seamen while locking the doors of the motel rooms where the seamen were staying from the outside.

The fall accident occurred at 3:28 AM on the 21st on the 8th floor of a motel in Sasang-gu, Busan.

At the time, a man in his 20s and a man in his 30s, both of Indonesian nationality, lowered a makeshift rope made by tearing motel room blankets out of the window and fell from a height of 21 meters while trying to climb down.

Due to this accident, B died while C sustained serious injuries and was transported to a hospital for treatment.

According to the police, a total of 20 people, including B and C, were staying in two motel rooms split into groups of 10 at the time of the accident.

They had entered the country through Gimhae International Airport for the purpose of seaman employment and were scheduled to board a Chinese-flagged deep-sea fishing vessel right away.

However, as the ship's arrival was delayed, they ended up waiting overnight at the motel in question.

In the process, it is presumed that B and C attempted to escape in order to illegally stay and find employment in South Korea instead of boarding the ship.

It was revealed that the doors of the motel where the seamen were staying were locked from the outside with locking devices, and two security company employees were deployed in the hallway to monitor them.

The Chinese ship agency denied the charges, stating, "We only handle ship entry and departure procedures and have never been involved in confining the seamen."

A police official said, "We are verifying problems regarding the management methods of the agency and security company from the entry to the boarding of the foreign seamen," adding, "We plan to summon the motel operator as a reference witness for questioning soon."

(Photo: Yonhap News)