Possibility of Rescuing Missing Persons in 'Gwangju Collapse Accident' Fluctuates... Families Growing Anxious

Told Family "It Will Be Done Today"... An Hour Later Told Media "It's Difficult"

Equipment Failure During Early Morning Rescue Operation... Delay in Installing Newly Arrived Equipment

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Park Jin-hyung] "It seems the rescue will be completed within today.", "There are difficulties in the rescue due to equipment malfunction."

The fire authorities' on-site briefing regarding the Gwangju Hwajeong I-Park collapse accident has been inconsistent.

At around 4 a.m. on the 14th, the fire authorities announced in a tent where the families of the missing were gathered that "rescue will be possible within today."

However, about an hour later, at around 5 p.m., the briefing to the press presented a completely different message.

Moon Hee-jun, head of the Western Fire Station, responded to a reporter's question, "Is it possible to rescue the buried victims within today?" by saying, "If sufficient equipment support is provided, we will do our best."

He added, "We are trying to make the rescue possible, but we are facing difficulties as the equipment keeps breaking down."

The broken equipment is a machine called a 'long boom' used to remove debris. During the overnight work the previous day, the hydraulic part of the 23m long boom burst and was damaged beyond repair.

A replacement 42m long boom was brought in and was scheduled to be installed by 2:30 p.m. that day, but the poor ground conditions have slowed down the work.

The company that brought in this equipment is Hyundai Development Company, the construction firm. Currently, the fire department is using equipment called 'Gongten' as proposed by them.

To rescue the first missing person found on the basement first-floor stairs of the building the previous day, concrete debris around the area must be removed.

However, since the demolition equipment broke down, more than 30 hours have passed since the discovery, but no progress has been made. Due to the heavy weight, manual labor has its limits.

The locations of the other five missing persons remain unknown. Intensive searches were conducted on the 22nd, 25th, 26th, and 28th floors, where rescue dogs showed reactions that morning, but no additional discoveries have been made yet.

All mobile cranes for dismantling the tower crane, which is a secondary collapse risk factor, have been brought to the site. Assembly will begin tomorrow, and dismantling is planned to start from the 17th.

A fire official stated, "There are many rebar and heavy concrete weights, so we need the power of heavy equipment, but since it is not running smoothly, the work speed is slow," and added, "We sincerely apologize."

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