Prosecutors indict 16 people, including public officials, in the collapse of the Jeongja Bridge

About 10 people, including government officials, were put on trial in connection with the collapse of the Bundang Jeongja Bridge in April last year, which caused two casualties.

Suwon District Prosecutors' Office indicted seven public officials belonging to the Bundang-gu District Office's structure management department without detention on charges of professional negligence, and indicted four bridge inspection companies and nine company officials without detention on charges of violating the Facility Safety Management Act.

The accused Bundang-gu District Office officials are accused of failing to fulfill the duty of care to repair the bridge's safety inspection results from 2021 to April last year when the accident occurred.

Inspection company officials are accused of writing false reports as if a technician who does not participate in the bridge safety inspection was working.

Earlier on April 5 last year, a woman in her 40s was killed and a man in his 20s was seriously injured, including a broken spinal cord, when a part of the sidewalk collapsed at Jeongja Bridge in Bundang-gu, Seongnam-si, Gyeonggi-do.