'Gwangju Collapse Accident' Work Suspension Order Issued, Search Prolonged

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Park Jin-hyung] The search operation at Hwajeong I-Park in Seo-gu, Gwangju Metropolitan City is expected to be prolonged.

The Accident Response Integrated Countermeasures Headquarters (hereinafter referred to as the Countermeasures Headquarters), which includes Gwangju City and related agencies, held a briefing on the fifth day of the search on the morning of the 15th and announced, "The start date for dismantling the tower crane, based on the exercise of the work suspension right and expert advice, has been postponed from this Sunday to next Friday."

The Countermeasures Headquarters stated, "We initially planned to assemble the dismantling crane and reinforce the tower crane simultaneously, but the plan was changed to reinforce after assembly," adding, "If the work suspension right is exercised, the construction company cannot force workers to continue work, so safety must be ensured."

The work suspension right refers to the right of workers to stop work when an industrial accident occurs or there is a risk of one. It is stipulated by the Industrial Safety and Health Act.

The Countermeasures Headquarters has set a search policy to begin actively searching for missing persons from the upper floors of the building by dismantling the tilted part of the tower crane after the collapse.

As the start time for dismantling the tower crane is delayed, a prolonged search schedule is inevitable.

On the upper floors from the 23rd to the 38th floor where the collapse occurred, debris has accumulated and there are cliff-like spaces, so instead of deploying rescue workers, searches are continuing using equipment such as endoscopes.

The upper floors of the building are also points where search dogs showed unusual reactions.

The Countermeasures Headquarters explained, "After assembling and moving the dismantling crane, we plan to proceed by attaching a basket to the end of the boom (the arm of the crane) to send workers to reinforce the tower crane," adding, "The assembly schedule has also been extended from two days to three days due to ground reinforcement."

They also said, "The work to clear debris from the lower part of the building has been moved up to today after the tower crane reinforcement," adding, "This will be carried out by unmanned equipment and a Long Boom Arm (a special excavator with a long arm)."

They urged political figures and others to refrain from visiting the site to allow all efforts to focus on searching for the missing persons.

The Countermeasures Headquarters said, "This is a more complex and difficult situation than any disaster, and there are risk factors throughout the site," and requested, "Many people are concerned and inquiring about visiting the site, but we ask for restraint."

At around 3:46 p.m. on the 11th, the outer wall of the 23rd to 38th floors of Building 201 at the Hwajeong I-Park new construction site collapsed, resulting in the death of one worker and five missing persons.

They are presumed to have been responsible for window and fire-fighting equipment installation work on the 28th to 34th floors of the collapsed building.

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