Company head charged with negligence
The head of a leisure tour company was arrested on charges of causing injury through negligence when his company pushed ahead with a rafting tour despite torrential rains. The 54-year-old suspect, who is only identified as his surname Lee, allowed about 20 customers to go rafting with his company on a river near Hongcheon County, Gangwon Province on the afternoon of July 15. At that time, the river had swollen substantially due to torrential rains. Before boarding the boat, one of the customers asked whether it was safe to go rafting in such inclement weather. But an employee of the leisure company proceeded to rent two boats to the group for 360,000 won (380 USD), saying that it would be "more fun to [go rafting] on this kind of day."“At the time of the incident, the muddy water had turned into a dangerous, swiftly flowing current," a police official said. The 10 people on board one of the the boats were swept by rough waves and eventually fell into the water as their boat ran into a bridge. One of the victims, a 27-year-old only identified by the surname Choi, was rescued after clinging to the support post of the bridge. Other victims were able to swim to safety. Police in Hongcheon are now investigating the incident.
