A falling accident has occurred once again at the Jeaseok Mountain Suspension Bridge in Nam-gu, Gwangju, just two months after a similar incident. This has sparked calls for enhanced safety measures.
According to the Gwangju Nam-gu Police Station, at 5:13 a.m. on the 21st, a man in his 30s, identified as A, fell 37 meters down to the road from the Jeaseok Mountain Suspension Bridge. Despite rescue efforts by the firefighters who responded to a resident’s report, A was in cardiac arrest and was transported to a nearby hospital where he was pronounced dead.
Investigation revealed that A, who visited Jeaseok Mountain alone, had climbed over the 2-meter-high safety railing surrounding the suspension bridge and fell.
A similar accident occurred in the early hours of February 9th, when a man in his 40s, known as B, crossed the safety facility at the same location and fell to his death.
The Jeaseok Mountain Suspension Bridge, built in 1999 to connect the ridges of Bongseon-dong and Jinwol-dong, is equipped with safety installations. However, these falling accidents continue to happen. Since 2017, a total of seven people have died from falls off the bridge. Last year, a man also caused a commotion by climbing onto the railing in a threatening manner.
Following successive fatal accidents, the safety railing height was increased from 1.2 meters to 2 meters. However, since it can still be easily bypassed, there are calls for further enhanced safety measures.
Nam-gu plans to allocate 100 million won to install a net under the suspension bridge by June as a countermeasure.
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