Gapyeong Pension Buried by Landslide Due to Heavy Rain...60-Year-Old Owner, Daughter, and 2-Year-Old Grandson Found Dead (Comprehensive)

80mm Rainfall per Hour
Fishing Site Manager Missing and Other Casualties Follow

[Asia Economy Reporter Choi Sunghye] On the 3rd, a tragedy occurred in the Gapyeong area of Gyeonggi Province where a pension was buried under landslide debris due to heavy rain, resulting in the deaths of three family members. In Pocheon, Gyeonggi Province, a fishing site manager who went out by boat to check the sluice gate went missing, causing a series of casualties in the northern Gyeonggi region.

In the low-lying areas of Namyangju, about 120 residents evacuated to a nearby school in preparation for any emergency, and gas and water supply were cut off in various parts of Gapyeong, causing great inconvenience to residents.

◇ Pension buried under landslide... 60s female owner, daughter, and 2-year-old grandson dead

According to the Northern Gyeonggi Fire and Disaster Headquarters, at around 10:37 a.m. that day, a 119 emergency call was received reporting that a landslide had buried a pension in Sanyu-ri, Gapyeong-eup, Gapyeong-gun.

The collapsed building was the pension’s management building, and inside were the pension owner A (65, female), her daughter B (36), and grandson C (2), all of whom died. B had been living in New Zealand but returned to Korea to help her mother with the pension business and raise her son domestically, only to suffer this tragedy.

Additionally, a Vietnamese pension employee in his 40s is presumed to be buried at the site, and the fire authorities suspended search operations around 8 p.m. that day.

The fire authorities plan to resume search operations on the morning of the 4th, but since the employee’s vehicle is not at the site, there is a possibility that he has already evacuated elsewhere, so efforts are underway to locate him. A total of 39 personnel from fire and police departments were deployed for the search, with 16 pieces of equipment including four excavators and one forklift mobilized to focus on rescue operations. However, due to landslide debris piling up on nearby roads and road washouts, access was difficult, and it took 6 to 7 hours to recover the bodies.

In Gapyeong-gun, about 200mm of heavy rain fell from midnight to 6 p.m., with a peak hourly rainfall of 80mm in the morning. Guests staying in the accommodation building, which was separate from the pension management building, safely evacuated.

◇ Two missing in rapid currents in Gapyeong and Pocheon... isolated in various places

At around 10:27 a.m. that day, a report was received that one person was swept away by rapid currents in the Daeseong-ri valley of Cheongpyeong-myeon, Gapyeong-gun, and search operations are ongoing. Earlier, at around 1 a.m., the manager A (55) of a fishing site at a reservoir in Gwanin-myeon, Pocheon-si, went missing after going out by boat, and a search is underway. It is understood that A was swept away by rapid currents while checking the sluice gate drainage status as the reservoir water level rose sharply.

At around 10:18 a.m., a report was received that a vehicle was being swept away in Daeseong-ri, Cheongpyeong-myeon, and rescue workers who arrived saved a disabled person inside the vehicle. At around 11:20 a.m., two people trapped inside a container in Cheongpyeong-myeon were rescued and transported to a hospital.

Around the same time, a report was received from a house in Cheongpyeong-myeon stating, "Landslide debris has pushed up to right behind the house, and the bridge is submerged, so evacuation is not possible," and rescue workers evacuated three people.

◇ Gas and water supply cut off in Gapyeong... 120 residents evacuated in Namyangju due to flood warning

According to Gapyeong-gun, water supply was cut off from 1:30 p.m. in Cheongpyeong-myeon, Sangmyeon Haenghyeon-ri, Deokhyeon-ri, and Imcho-ri. Water supply is expected to be restored around 10 p.m. that day.

Also, due to the collapse of an embankment at Daljeoncheon in Gapyeong-eup, some buried gas and water pipes were exposed, and Gapyeong-gun and the gas supply company cut off gas supply to 5,700 households in Gapyeong-eup from 11 a.m. that day.

In Namyangju, as concerns rose over the flooding of Wangsukcheon, about 120 residents from 96 households in the low-lying areas of Toegyewon-myeon were urgently evacuated. Around 10 a.m. that day, heavy rain of 42.5mm per hour fell in the area.

With continuous rain for four days since the 31st of last month, the water level at Jingwan Bridge on Wangsukcheon rose sharply, prompting a flood warning. Accordingly, Namyangju City evacuated 40 people from 21 households in the low-lying village of Sinhachon in Toegyewon-myeon to nearby Toegyewon High School. The remaining 75 households with about 80 people evacuated to relatives’ and acquaintances’ homes. Fortunately, the village was not flooded. As the rain subsided, the water level of Wangsukcheon is also decreasing.