Probe in Deadly S. Korea Subway Fire Focuses on Driver Who Fled the Scene

Police investigating a deadly fire on two subway trains said today that they were examining the possibility of criminal negligence by one of the drivers -- who apparently fled while the train’s doors were closed -- and nine subway officials.

Subway operators allowed a second train to pull into a blazing underground station, then hesitated to evacuate passengers as the arriving train burned, investigators said Thursday.

Seventy-nine of the estimated 133 victims from Tuesday’s arson apparently died on the second train. Many were incinerated, and authorities said Thursday that they had identified only 46 victims.

The blaze was set on one train in Joongang Station, reportedly by a 56-year-old passenger intent on committing suicide, police said. The man, identified as Kim Dae Han, who survived, has a history of mental illness.

The second train was allowed to enter the station even as the first burned at the platform, investigators said, citing transcripts of radio exchanges.

“When you enter the Joongang Station, drive carefully. There is a fire,” rail controllers told the driver, according to the transcripts. Officials also hesitated to evacuate the passengers, police said.

After the second train arrived, its driver, identified only by his last name, Choi, said, “It’s a mess. It’s stifling. Take some measures please. Should I evacuate the passengers?”

Moving the train was impossible by then because electricity had been cut. The second train was engulfed in flames.

The driver told police that he finally decided to evacuate his train and that he fled believing the doors had opened and the passengers had fled. But he took the train’s master key, whose removal automatically closes the doors, police said.

Some victims called their relatives by mobile phone and said the doors were not opening.

Sobbing relatives of victims angrily confronted South Korea’s president-elect with demands to speed identification of the dead.

“Where am I supposed to find my child?” a woman asked when Roh Moo Hyun arrived.

Piles of white chrysanthemums, traditional funeral flowers, were placed near the subway’s entrances. Although some trains were running, most cars were empty.