'Gwangju Apartment Collapse' Sixth Day, No 'Special Issues' in Morning Search

Removing debris from Basement 1 and ground level... Search continues with rescue dogs in the afternoon

One additional dismantling crane in operation... Assembly planned by the 17th, dismantling to be completed by the 21st

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters, Reporter Yoon Jamin] The search for missing persons following the collapse of an apartment under construction by Hyundai Industrial Development in Hwajeong-dong, Seo-gu, Gwangju Metropolitan City, has continued for six days, but no significant progress was reported during the morning search operations.

According to the response headquarters on the 16th, safety checks at the site were conducted in the morning, and eight search dogs with handlers, along with drones, were deployed to begin search operations.

The search dogs completed their inspection of the first floor front area and the basement level, but no notable findings were confirmed.

The authorities are currently clearing debris from the ground level and the basement first floor where access routes have been secured, focusing efforts on removing all surface debris within the day.

In the afternoon, the response headquarters plans to continue search operations by deploying search dogs and others, concentrating on relatively safe areas that are not directly adjacent to the tower crane.

Hyundai Industrial Development, the construction company responsible for the collapsed apartment, has decided to operate an additional dismantling crane besides the 1,200-ton crane brought in to dismantle the tilted tower crane, which poses a risk of further collapse.

The plan is to complete the assembly of the dismantling crane by the 17th, carry out reinforcement work, and finish dismantling the upper part of the tower crane by the 21st.

If the tilted tower crane, which has been the biggest obstacle to the search operations, is dismantled safely, the search for the remaining missing persons is expected to accelerate.

Earlier, on the afternoon of the 11th at 3:46 PM, the exterior wall of floors 23 to 38 of Building 201 of Hwajeong-dong I-Park, under construction by Hyundai Industrial Development in Gwangju, collapsed.

One person was lightly injured and transported to a hospital, and six people went missing. Among the missing, one person was found deceased near the basement first floor stairs on the afternoon of the 14th, four days after the accident, and search operations are ongoing to find the other five.

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