Fire Authorities Deploy Divers for Internal Search
Five of the 11 people reported missing on the morning of the 16th in the flooded underground passage in Osong, Cheongju, Chungbuk, were found dead.
The fire authorities stated, "We recovered five bodies from a city bus submerged in the underground passage," adding, "One of them was a woman in her 70s, found at the front entrance of the bus at around 7:26 a.m." The other four bodies, whose identities have not been confirmed, were also recovered from the rear of the bus around the same time.
The fire authorities explained that they plan to conduct additional search operations to determine if there were other passengers.
It has been reported that about 10 vehicles, excluding the bus, were submerged in the Osong underground passage, raising the possibility of more casualties. At around 5:55 a.m. that day, the fire authorities deployed four divers to both directions of the underground passage to conduct internal searches.
A passenger car was also recovered about 50 meters from the entrance of the underground passage in the direction from Sejong to Osong, but no occupants were found.
The authorities plan to continue drainage work and search operations in the underground passage to rescue additional lives.
At the second underground passage in Gungpyeong, Osong-eup, Heungdeok-gu, Cheongju, around 8:40 a.m. the previous day, 15 vehicles including city buses were submerged due to water flowing in from the nearby Miho River. One person was found dead from the accident the previous day, and 11 missing reports were filed. Nine people were rescued immediately after the accident.
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