Search for Upper Floors to Resume on Day 7 of the 'Gwangju Apartment Collapse'

Experts and Related Agencies Hold On-Site Meeting... Deriving Safe and Precise Search Methods

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Yoon Jamin] From the 7th day of the collapse accident at the newly constructed apartment in Hwajeong-dong, Gwangju, built by Hyundai Development Company, full-scale search and rescue operations for the upper floors will begin on the 17th.

According to the Accident Response Integrated Headquarters, at around 7:30 a.m. on this day, 205 personnel from 9 organizations including the Central 119 Rescue Headquarters, 51 pieces of equipment, and 8 search and rescue dogs were deployed to start the search on the 7th day.

From this day, 8 search and rescue dogs will be divided into 2 teams and deployed to search the upper floors of the collapsed apartment building (22nd, 26th, 27th, and 28th floors).

Along with this, debris from the lower floors, from basement level 1 to ground level 1, will be removed, and searches using drones and endoscopic cameras will be conducted simultaneously.

The search authorities plan to hold an expert on-site meeting to explore measures to find the missing persons.

Considering that the accident site is a collapse site requiring advanced search and rescue techniques, they intend to derive the best search and rescue methods based on the diverse experiences and expertise of specialists.

Efforts are also being accelerated to dismantle the tower crane, which is currently tilted and poses a risk of further collapse.

Assembly of a 1200-ton dismantling crane is being expedited, and additional cranes will be deployed to safely dismantle the tower crane.

Earlier, at around 3:46 p.m. on the 11th, the outer wall of the 23rd to 38th floors of Building 201 of Hwajeong-dong I-Park in Gwangju, under construction by Hyundai Development Company, collapsed.

As a result of this accident, one person was slightly injured and transported to the hospital, and six people went missing. Among the missing, one person was found deceased near the basement level 1 stairs on the afternoon of the 14th, four days after the accident, and search operations are ongoing to find the other five.