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The death of a quarry worker in his 30s in Cheongwon County, North Chungcheong Province on Wednesday was not caused by an exploding mobile phone but by a heavy vehicle accident, police said Thursday. Police said a colleague of the victim¡¯s lied about the cause of death to conceal his fault.
According to Cheongju Heungdeok police in charge of investigation on this case, the colleague identified as Kwon (58), who reported the accident on Thursday, killed Seo (33) while driving a backhoe but later told police the cause of death was an exploding mobile phone in Seo¡¯s breast pocket. Police have sought an arrest warrant for Kwon for negligence resulting in death.
Kwon told police he was backing up a hydraulic drill rig at the quarry and accidentally killed him by running over. Seo died stuck between the vehicle and a rock.
Immediately after the accident on Thursday, Kwon told police he found Seo lying beside his vehicle and called the police and emergency services. Police believed the accident was likely caused by an explosion since the phone found in Seo¡¯s left breast pocket had a severely melted battery and there was charring.
Police is investigating the possibilities that the cell phone caught fire under pressure when Seo was crushed or that Kwon set fire to the phone to try disguise the real cause of death.
Police asked the National Institute of Scientific Investigation to perform an autopsy, which showed Seo¡¯s lungs were severely injured and several fractures to the ribs, the spine, left arm and right ring finger. Convinced that those injuries could not have been caused by an exploding phone, police questioned Kwon again.
(englishnews@chosun.com )
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