Osan City Launches Retaining Wall Collapse Accident Recovery Task Force

[Suwon Ilbo=Reporter Park Chan-hyuk] Osan City activated an accident recovery task force starting at 9 a.m. on the 21st to swiftly address the retaining wall collapse accident at the Gasang Intersection on the Western Bypass Road.

The task force is composed of a task force director (Mayor Lee Gwon-jae), deputy director (vice mayor), overall management division (head of Autonomous Administration Bureau), situation room director (head of Citizen Safety Bureau), and five divisions including △Overall Division (head of Safety Policy Division) △Legal & Victim Support Division (budget planning officer) △Response Cooperation Division (head of Traffic Policy Division) △Recovery Division (head of Roads Division) △Public Relations Support Division (head of Public Relations) .

Immediately following the accident, the city established a disaster safety task force to direct operations at the scene while implementing emergency measures including victim rescue, funeral support, and prevention of additional collapses. Subsequently, the city expanded operations to an accident recovery task force to strengthen its response system.

In light of this accident, the city plans to conduct comprehensive surveys of retaining walls constructed using reinforced soil methods and emergency precision safety inspections of the entire Western Bypass Road to prevent similar accidents and alleviate public anxiety through improved safety management.

Currently, the city is collaborating with relevant agencies to actively proceed with accident recovery and reconstruction. It also plans to actively cooperate with the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport's accident investigation committee. Additionally, the city plans to overhaul its disaster safety system and allocate additional budget within the 2025 budget for citizen safety to make all-out efforts to secure safety.

The city has also completed temporary waterproofing work at the accident site and plans to prepare psychological support and compensation measures for bereaved families and victims. To minimize public inconvenience caused by prolonged traffic control, the city is pursuing expert diagnosis of the upper bridge structure and reopening of Gasang Road (Osan-Jeongnam direction) traffic.