'Gwangju Apartment Collapse' Search for Missing Persons to Continue All Day from the 24th

Upper Part of Tower Crane Hazard Dismantled... Low Risk of Toppling

Collaboration with Fire Department and Hyundai Engineering Starts 24/7 from 24th... Speeding Up Rescue Operations

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Cho Hyung-joo] Search operations for victims of the newly constructed apartment collapse accident in Seo-gu, Gwangju will be conducted 24 hours a day starting from the 24th.

With the dismantling of the tower crane, which was the greatest risk factor, completed, the search is expected to accelerate.

The Accident Response Integrated Headquarters stated in a briefing on the afternoon of the 23rd, "We have safely removed the 27-ton concrete counterweight and the 55m boom that were hanging from the tower crane," and added, "With the completion of wire reinforcement, the risk of the tower crane toppling has significantly decreased."

The headquarters also judged that the possibility of collapse of the retaining wall has decreased as the formworks connected to the outer wall (one on the south side, three on the east side) were removed.

Additionally, to secure the safety of the upper floors of the building, jack supports are being installed on each floor to support the slabs, and steel beam reinforcement work for stabilizing the outer wall is being carried out concurrently with structural work. As of now, jack support installation on the 21st floor has been completed.

Accordingly, to speed up the search operations, from the 24th, the Fire Agency rescue team and Hyundai Development Company work teams will maintain close cooperation to proceed swiftly 24 hours a day.

The remaining tower crane will be kept in its current stable state based on expert opinions. After the search operations are completed, the remaining parts will be dismantled.

Meanwhile, on the morning of the same day, five family members of the victims accompanied the team to inspect the site from the 22nd to the 39th floor, and search operations continued using rescue dogs.

It was reported that some rescue dogs showed slight reactions on the 22nd and 23rd floors, and currently rescue workers are focusing their search on the 22nd floor. Additionally, space securing work for the search on the 27th floor is also underway.

Search operations are planned to continue until 10 p.m. that day, and starting from the 24th, 14 additional urban search experts will be deployed.

Gwangju Mayor Lee Yong-seop stated, "We will continuously monitor the displacement of the tower crane and retaining wall to maximize the safety of the rescue team and do our best to rescue the missing persons as soon as possible."

Meanwhile, on the 11th, part of the 23rd to 38th floors of a 39-floor building collapsed at the Hwajeong I-Park construction site in Hwajeong-dong, Seo-gu, Gwangju, resulting in one injury and six workers missing. One person was recovered deceased on the 14th, and search operations for the remaining five are ongoing.

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