Couple found dead in camping car in Taebaek amid suspected carbon monoxide poisoning
A rescue worker checks a vehicle at a parking lot of Mount Taebaek National Park, Tuesday. Courtesy of Gangwon Fire Headquarters
A couple was found dead inside a vehicle connected to a car-camping tent in Taebaek, Gangwon Province, after a passerby reported hearing only the sound of a motor coming from the car with no signs of movement inside.
According to police and fire authorities Tuesday, the emergency call came in at 2:36 p.m. from the parking lot near the Yuilsa Trail entrance at Mount Taebaek. The caller reported that a tent attached to a parked vehicle was zipped shut, a motor was running, and no response was heard from the occupants.
Rescue personnel arrived on the scene and discovered a man in his 50s and a woman in her 40s inside the vehicle. Both were pronounced dead at the scene.
Police said the two, who were married, had been car camping in the Mount Taebaek area the previous night.
At the scene, authorities found that a fuel-powered heater had been running inside the vehicle. The windows were shut, and the tent was sealed tightly to the car, creating a confined space. A doctor at Chuncheon Sacred Heart Hospital said the circumstances “strongly suggest carbon monoxide poisoning.”
Police are investigating the precise cause of death, including whether the heater and the design of the attached tent created safety hazards.
As winter car camping and cold-weather trips become more common, fire authorities reiterated safety warnings, noting that heaters used in enclosed spaces can quickly lead to oxygen depletion and carbon monoxide buildup. “Heating in a sealed environment should never be attempted,” an official said.
This article from the Hankook Ilbo, the sister publication of The Korea Times, is translated by generative AI and edited by The Korea Times.