Gwangmyeong City "Joint Inspection of Sinansan Line Collapse Site and Nearby Areas"

Plan to Establish a 'Citizen Safety Countermeasures Committee' with Local Resident Participation
Mayor Park Seung-won: "The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport Must Conduct a Detailed Safety Inspection and Prepare Recurrence Prevention Measures"

The city of Gwangmyeong in Gyeonggi Province will conduct a joint inspection of the collapsed site at the Sinansan Line underground tunnel construction.

Firefighters are rescuing an excavator operator who was trapped in the underground tunnel construction site of the Sinansan Line in Iljik-dong, Gwangmyeong City, about 13 hours after the collapse accident occurred. Photo by Yonhap News

On the 12th, Gwangmyeong City announced that it will carry out a large-scale joint inspection of the Sinansan Line Section 5-2 construction site where the collapse occurred and the surrounding area in cooperation with Gyeonggi Province. The city plans to form a 'Citizen Safety Countermeasures Committee' involving local residents near the accident site so that citizens can directly verify and monitor construction safety.

Park Seung-won, mayor of Gwangmyeong, stated, "An accurate investigation into the cause of the accident and thorough investigations by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport and the Korea Rail Network Authority must precede," adding, "The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport should immediately conduct a detailed safety inspection of the construction site and the remaining sections of the Sinansan Line in Gwangmyeong City, and prepare recurrence prevention measures to prevent similar accidents."

Mayor Park also requested prompt damage recovery and the establishment of practical support measures to help local residents and merchants affected by the accident restore their daily lives.

He added, "We will thoroughly manage all processes from accident response to prevention of additional safety accidents, cause investigation, recurrence prevention measures, and damage recovery," and "We will make every effort to ensure safety management to alleviate citizens' anxiety."

Mayor Park particularly emphasized a strong request for a thorough fact-finding investigation by investigative agencies such as the police regarding this accident, and plans to strongly demand practical safety measures from the construction company. He intends to urge the developer to hold a residents' briefing session to directly explain safety measures to citizens and to present specific plans for transparent construction management and recurrence prevention.

The accident occurred around 3:13 p.m. on the 11th near Yangjisa Intersection in Iljik-dong, Gwangmyeong City, at the Sinansan Line double-track railway Section 5-2 underground tunnel construction site, when the construction site and the road above collapsed. The excavator operator trapped in the collapse was rescued after an overnight rescue operation at around 4:27 a.m. on the 12th, but a worker in his 50s belonging to POSCO E&C remains missing.

The evacuation order for residents near the construction site, which the city had issued the previous day, was lifted at 12:10 a.m. on the 12th, and about 220 residents from 80 households in nearby apartments who had been staying at eight designated shelters returned home.