Seoul City to Conduct 'Cheonggyecheon Citizen Rescue Drill' on 26th in Preparation for Heavy Rainfall

Seoul City, Jungbu Fire Station, and Related Agencies Conduct Joint Citizen Rescue Training for Disaster Preparedness
Enhancing Emergency Response Skills Through Realistic Field Drills During Sudden Heavy Rainfall

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Cheol-young] The Seoul Metropolitan Government will conduct a simulation drill at Baeogae Bridge in Cheonggyecheon to prepare for dangerous situations where citizens could become trapped due to localized heavy rainfalls during the summer.

On the 26th, Seoul announced that it will carry out the "Joint Simulation Drill for Citizen Isolation Evacuation and Rescue in Cheonggyecheon" in cooperation with the Seoul Facilities Corporation and Jungbu Fire Station. This drill is conducted annually as a citizen rescue training assuming real-life scenarios to strengthen on-site response capabilities for situations where citizens may become trapped in Cheonggyecheon during heavy rainfalls.

The simulation assumes a sudden heavy rainfall in the Cheonggyecheon watershed and is conducted simultaneously at the situation center and on-site. At the situation center, access to Cheonggyecheon is controlled through sirens, evacuation broadcasts, and electronic display boards during emergencies. On-site, safety personnel and evacuation control teams are urgently deployed in cooperation with 119 emergency services to evacuate and control citizens. Additionally, the drill proceeds in the same manner as an actual situation, including rescuing trapped citizens and those who have fallen into the water.

This year, to prevent the spread of COVID-19 infections, citizen attendance is discouraged, and instead, the simulation drill will be posted on social media platforms such as YouTube so that participating organizations and citizens can watch it.

Meanwhile, the Seoul Facilities Corporation has established a 24-hour real-time dual monitoring system at the Cheonggyecheon situation room to prevent citizen isolation accidents during sudden heavy rainfalls. Ten safety personnel are permanently stationed on-site to promptly carry out citizen evacuation and access control during emergencies.

Choi Jin-seok, Director of the Water Circulation Safety Bureau of Seoul, said, "Cheonggyecheon has a structure where the sluice gates under the bridges open during rainfall, allowing surrounding rainwater and sewage to flow in, causing the river water level to rise rapidly and frequently flooding the walking paths. When the broadcast is made during rainfall, we ask citizens using the Cheonggyecheon walking paths to promptly evacuate following the guidance of safety personnel."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.