Third Missing Person Rescued in Gwangju Collapse Accident... Found on 28th Floor

Recovered four days after first discovery on the 27th... Currently transported to hospital

Access secured by removing debris, rescue efforts extend to buried person on 27th floor

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Park Jin-hyung] Around 6:25 PM on the 31st, an additional missing person was rescued from the Hwajeong I-Park collapse accident in Seo-gu, Gwangju Metropolitan City.

The buried location was confirmed with an endoscopic camera on the 28th floor on the 27th, and the person was recovered after 5 days.

Gominja, head of the Gwangju Fire Safety Headquarters, held an emergency briefing and announced, "The rescued person has been transported to the hospital."

Regarding reporters' questions about signs of life, he avoided a definitive answer, saying, "The determination of presumed death is practically made by medical personnel."

However, the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters and the response headquarters judged that the buried person rescued on the 28th floor was presumed to have died on site like the first victim.

The second missing person, who was discovered earlier, is still buried and was found near the master bedroom of Room 2 on the 27th floor around 5:30 PM on the 25th.

The fire authorities are working to secure an access route by breaking concrete and cutting rebar to rescue the second missing person.

On the 28th to 29th floors, 71 rescue personnel, 6 technicians mobilized by Hyundai Development Company, and 2 mini excavators have been deployed.

The mini excavators were temporarily halted due to cracks appearing on the ceiling of the 24th floor but have been operating again since the previous day.

Currently, 13 crack meters are monitoring the 24th and 28th floors, and no abnormalities have been reported.

The construction lift used for debris removal was installed on this day and is currently undergoing final inspection.

Jack supports that prevent a secondary collapse by supporting the ceiling have been installed for 601 out of 768 units (78%).

When additional materials arrive on the 3rd of next month, installation will proceed at locations requested by the Fire Agency and the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport Safety Management.

The installation of a new tower crane, which will be used for removing large concrete debris, external search of the collapse surface, and demolition of unstable exterior walls, is ongoing with the goal of completion by the 22nd of next month after foundation work (pile work) to strengthen the ground.

Search efforts to find the remaining three missing persons continue. Cross-searches were conducted on all floors on this day but ended without discovering additional traces.

The accident occurred around 3:46 PM on the 11th when internal structures and parts of the exterior walls of 16 floors from the 23rd to the 38th floor collapsed simultaneously.

As a result, two workers died (one presumed), and four went missing. They are presumed to have been responsible for window and fire-fighting equipment work on the 28th to 34th floors of the collapsed building.

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