Collapse Occurs 15 Hours After Work Halted Due to Cracks
Residents Advised to Evacuate Over Fears of Further Collapse
In Iljik-dong, Gwangmyeong-si, Gyeonggi-do, the underground tunnel construction site of the Sinansan Line collapsed, resulting in one person missing and one person trapped.
According to the police, fire authorities, and Gwangmyeong City on the 11th, at around 3:13 PM, the underground tunnel construction site of the Sinansan Line double-track railway Section 5-2 near KTX Gwangmyeong Station, around Yangji Intersection in Gwangmyeong City, collapsed, causing the upper road to cave in.
On the afternoon of the 11th, an underground tunnel construction site for the Sinansan Line subway in Iljik-dong, Gwangmyeong-si, Gyeonggi-do collapsed, resulting in one person missing and another trapped. Yonhap News
As a result of the accident, excavator operator Mr. A is trapped underground, and construction worker Mr. B is missing. Mr. A is able to communicate via mobile phone, but the extent of his injuries is unknown. Fire authorities have deployed drones to locate Mr. A and are conducting rescue operations, while also tracking Mr. B’s whereabouts through mobile phone location tracking.
The collapsed underground tunnel is about 30 meters deep, and the upper road has severe cracks and is bent. Two two-story buildings next to the site, including a restaurant and a materials store, partially collapsed due to the collapse, but no casualties have been reported so far. Gwangmyeong City has advised nearby residents to evacuate due to concerns about further collapse.
It has been understood that from the previous night, concerns about collapse had been raised at the construction site, and emergency safety inspections and reinforcement work were underway. According to Gwangmyeong City, at 11:49 PM on the 10th, the city was notified that "the central arch pillar of the tunnel at Iljik-dong 372-12 area was damaged," and requested the police to control the dangerous area. The police controlled and secured a 1 km section from Gwangmyeong Yangji Intersection to Anyang Hohyeon Intersection along Ori-ro passing the construction site.
From 2 AM to 8 AM on the day of the accident, the city sent multiple safety alert messages stating, "Due to the risk of collapse at the Iljik-dong Sinansan Line construction, two-way traffic is being controlled in front of Bitgaon Elementary School."
The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport and the construction company POSCO E&C began safety inspections for crack cause analysis and reinforcement work underground and above ground from the morning after controlling the construction site, but the tunnel ultimately collapsed about 15 hours after confirming pillar cracks.
Mr. A and Mr. B, who were trapped due to the accident, were reportedly working on safety inspections and other tasks with other workers on the upper slab of the road above the underground tunnel when the accident occurred. The remaining 17 workers at the site evacuated on their own, and no injuries have been reported.
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