Search for Missing Persons in 'Gwangju Apartment Collapse' Scheduled to Begin in Early Next Week

Search to Begin Immediately After Stabilization Work Including Tower Crane

Slab Positions Vary by Floor... Search from Corners to Center Areas

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters, Reporter Yoon Jamin] Full-scale search operations to find the remaining 5 missing persons from the Gwangju Hwajeong I-Park collapse accident are expected to begin as early as the beginning of next week.

Park Hong-geun (Seoul National University professor), head of the advisory group, announced the results of the third meeting on the 19th in a press briefing.

Park said, “Currently, the priority is searching for the missing persons, but to do so, secondary damage caused by additional collapse must be prevented,” adding, “The most problematic parts are the exterior walls and the tower crane at the damaged sections of the building. After stabilization work is carried out on those parts, the search will commence.”

According to Park, the main risks are the stability of the building’s exterior walls and the tilted tower crane.

He explained, “To prevent the exterior walls from toppling, temporary forced supports will be installed from the structurally stable core walls on the 32nd and 38th floors to enable the search,” and added, “During the search and rescue process, five structural engineers will be stationed on-site to provide technical support and advice.”

He also said, “The heaviest part is the head of the crane, and if that part is removed, it is currently judged that safety will not be an issue,” adding, “Since dismantling the remaining debris may affect the exterior walls, forced supports will be placed on the remaining core parts to prevent damage or toppling.”

He continued, “Eight wires have been prepared for dismantling the tower crane, which will be pulled from four positions, two wires per position,” and “They will be arranged to be supported by the adjacent building, but this will not affect the neighboring building.”

Full measures are also being taken to ensure the safety of the personnel conducting the search in the upper floors.

Park stated, “An emergency safety inspection will be conducted on the remaining building, and safety lines will be drawn,” and explained, “Considering structural safety, work will be done as much as possible inside the building, and when going outside, separate safety measures will be implemented.”

He added, “The slabs around the collapsed parts will be supported with jack supports and temporary supports down to the lower floors to prevent collapse underneath,” and said, “These measures are expected to be completed by early next week, after which the search for the missing persons will begin immediately.”

He emphasized, “In this accident, the collapse locations have different slab heights. One side is the 22nd floor, the other side is the 24th floor, and the central part has collapsed up to the 27th floor,” and added, “It is expected that the search will start from the corners, and after completing the search on both corners, searching the central part will be easier.”

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