Police seek arrest warrant for driver behind deadly car crash in downtown Seoul

Police sought an arrest warrant for the driver of a car that barreled into pedestrians and killed nine in central Seoul earlier this month, officials said Thursday. On July 1, the Hyundai Genesis sedan darted in the wrong direction for some 200 meters on a one-way road near Seoul City Hall before crashing into sidewalk guardrails, hitting pedestrians, and ramming into two other cars. Nine pedestrians, most of them office workers nearby, were killed, while seven others sustained injuries. The 68-year-old driver, surnamed Cha, claimed that the accident was caused by sudden unintended acceleration, saying that the brakes were stiff and did not function at the time of the crash. The Seoul Namdaemun Police Station said it had requested an arrest warrant for Cha on Wednesday in light of the gravity of the crime. During police questioning, Cha repeatedly maintained that the accident was caused by defects in the car. A National Forensic Service analysis of the sedan found that Cha pressed the accelerator to 90 percent of its full capacity at the time of the accident, concluding that the driver is likely to blame for the crash. Cha, who sustained a broken rib from the accident, remains hospitalized. Source: Yonhap News Agency