(LEAD) 3 dead, 5 seriously injured in truck crash in Sunchang

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SUNCHANG, South Korea, March 8 (Yonhap) -- A small truck rammed through a crowd of people in the southwestern county of Sunchang on Wednesday, leaving three people dead and five others seriously injured.

The 1-ton truck carrying fertilizer crashed into people in the parking lot of an agricultural cooperative building in Sunchang, 244 kilometers south of Seoul, at 10:30 a.m. while an election for a cooperative head was under way.

The accident left three people dead. Five others were seriously injured, and 12 other voters also sustained injuries. They were all sent to the hospital for treatment.

Casualties could grow further as the victims are mostly old aged, rescuers said.

Police were looking into the exact cause of the accident, having tentatively concluded that it was caused by the driver's maloperation.

pbr@yna.co.kr
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