Gwangju Collapse Accident "High Possibility of Missing Persons Buried on 27th-29th Floors, 2nd Line"

Two Mini Excavators Mobilized... Access Route Clearing Underway to Rescue Buried Victims on 27th Floor

Fire authorities are removing debris on the 29th floor to rescue buried victims. Photo by Gwangju Fire Safety Headquarters

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Cho Hyung-joo] Regarding the collapse accident at the Hyundai Development Company apartment construction site in Hwajeong-dong, Seo-gu, Gwangju, there is a high possibility that three missing persons are buried in one place.

The Central Accident Response Headquarters stated at the regular briefing on the afternoon of the 1st, "Among the four missing persons, the three who have not been found are highly likely to be buried in the area where the search operation is currently underway."

To rescue the buried person found on the 27th floor, the Central Response Headquarters is using two small excavators and has drilled an additional hole in the core wall on the 29th floor to quickly remove debris, working with one excavator.

They are currently exploring the 2nd line from the 27th to 29th floors, where debris had made searching difficult, and are conducting rescue operations with the deployment of rescue dogs and endoscopic cameras.

According to a Central Response Headquarters official, based on the search results so far, there are no additional buried persons on the ground floors and the 1st line of the upper floors of the building.

Lee Il, Director of the 119 Response Bureau at the Fire Agency, said, "The three missing persons who have not yet been found are likely to be on the 2nd line from the 27th to 29th floors where authorities are conducting the search," adding, "There is no possibility that missing persons are buried on the 1st line of the upper floors due to the structure of the collapsed building."

On this day, 84 personnel and two mini excavators were deployed for search and rescue support activities, focusing on clearing the 29th floor.

Additionally, a construction lift was provided by the Ministry of Employment and Labor and is being used to transport firefighting search personnel and workers' materials.

Furthermore, jack supports were installed on the 24th floor, where cracks had appeared in the building, to enable continuous measurement management.

Earlier, at around 3:46 p.m. on the 11th, part of the Hwajeong I-Park Apartment Building 201, which Hyundai Development Company was constructing, collapsed all at once from the 38th to the 23rd floor, causing six workers to go missing.

On the fourth day after the collapse, the first victim was recovered from the underground space on the 14th, and one more buried person was recovered the day before.

Currently, the search continues for one buried person found on the 27th floor and the remaining three missing persons.

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