Home > National > Social Affairs

Driver killed after SUV skids on plastic pellets spilled on highway in South Gyeongsang

Published: 20 Aug. 2025, 13:50

A man died after his SUV skidded on plastic pellets that had spilled across a highway in Hadong County, South Gyeongsang, on Aug. 19. The pellets are pictured in this photo provided to Yonhap by a reader. [YONHAP]

A man died early Tuesday after his SUV skidded on plastic pellets that had spilled across a highway in Hadong County, South Gyeongsang.

The accident happened at around 5:40 a.m. near the Jingyo Interchange on the Namhae Expressway toward Busan, Yonhap reported.

A Kia Sportage SUV slid over the pellets and crashed into the rear of a 25-ton truck parked on the shoulder.

The SUV driver, a man in his 40s, suffered critical injuries and was taken to a hospital, but died shortly after.

A man died after his SUV skidded on plastic pellets that had spilled across a highway in Hadong County, South Gyeongsang, on Aug. 19. [YONHAP]

The plastic pellets, described as small and numbering in the thousands, are believed to have spilled from the truck. The truck driver had pulled over to the shoulder shortly before the crash to try to clean up the road.

The pellets have since been cleaned up, according to Yonhap.

Police booked the truck driver for violating safety regulations on securing cargo and are investigating the exact circumstances of the accident.

This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.
JUNG SI-NAE [[email protected]]