“The car hasn’t moved for several hours” “4 hours to come to the tow truck”… Seoul paralyzed by heavy snow

Input 2021.01.07 00:06 | Revision 2021.01.07 00:24

On the night of the 6th, a sudden heavy snowfall in downtown Seoul caused a traffic disruption. In addition, as the snow removal work was delayed, complaints from citizens who were trapped on the way home from work abound.

According to the police, there was a report at 10:05 pm in Naegok-dong, Seocho-gu, Seoul, saying, “It snows a lot, but the vehicle cannot move because it is not snowing.” At the same time, a report was received in Gasan-dong, Geumcheon-gu, saying that “the car has not been moving for several hours.”

Especially on the hilly roads, the movement of the cars was difficult and the inconvenience was great. At around 10:04 pm, in Sinsa-dong, Gangnam-gu, there was a report saying, “The road from Hannam Bridge to Sinsa Station has turned into ice, and the vehicle is congested.” It is said that it takes time.”

There were frequent contact accidents as the car slipped on the snowy road. On this day, around 9 pm on a road in Nonhyeon-dong, Gangnam-gu, a car crashed into a standing city bus. This bus was empty because it had all the passengers unloaded when it became difficult to operate due to snow accumulated over an hour before the accident.

On this day, heavy snow was forecast in the Seoul area, but it was pointed out that the authorities had been trapped in the car for a long time due to delay in snow removal work or safety measures.

A male driver in his 50s, who said he was holding the steering wheel in downtown Seoul for 4 hours at around 10 pm, said, “It’s on my way home, but all the cars are stopped and left unattended.” . Choi Mo, who is near Namtaeryeong Station in Gwacheon, Gyeonggi Province, said, “I only saw two police officers working on the traffic while driving for 4 hours.”

An office worker residing in Gaepo-dong left Gwanghwamun at around 7 pm this evening, but cars stopped on Hannam Bridge (in the direction of Gangnam) and had to wait for several hours. Eventually, I left my car and moved to a nearby subway station, but to make matters worse, I could not use it due to the shortened subway operation due to corona. This office worker said, “While the snow fell like this, I didn’t see the police who arranged the traffic, let alone the snowplow,” and said, “The corona cuts off public transportation early and I’m not sure how to get home.

From Bongcheon Pass to Sangdo Tunnel, it is said that traffic congestion occurred. In addition to this, the tunnels and major pass roads suffered from heavy snowfall.

In social network services (SNS) and online communities, citizens’ stories and complaints about traffic jams erupted.

The Meteorological Administration issued heavy snow warnings in Seoul, Incheon, and Gyeonggi at 7 pm that day. This snow is expected to fall until late at night. In addition, a cold wave warning is forecast from the dawn of the 7th, and there are concerns that a traffic disruption will occur on the way to work due to freezing of snow at night.