Fire Authorities Deploy Rescue Dogs in Search for Missing Person
Gwangmyeong City in Gyeonggi Province announced on the 15th that it will operate a 'Disaster Victim Support Center' to provide systematic and professional recovery support to residents and merchants affected by the collapse accident at the Shinansan Line construction site that occurred on the 11th.
Park Seung-won, Mayor of Gwangmyeong City, is presiding over the support measures for victims at the situation room set up at the collapse accident site of the Sinansan Line construction. Provided by Gwangmyeong City
The Disaster Victim Support Center was established to enable residents and merchants whose daily lives and livelihoods were affected by the accident to quickly report damages and receive practical support. It will serve as a comprehensive support window to request damage compensation support from related organizations and companies involved in the accident, such as the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, Korea Rail Network Authority, POSCO E&C, and NextTrain Co., Ltd.
The center is located at the Iljik-dong Administrative Welfare Center. It is situated in the same location as the 'Civil Complaint Response TF Team,' which has been operating directly under the mayor since the 14th, to establish a one-stop linkage system that allows immediate consultation and administrative support as soon as damage complaints are received.
The center consists of two teams: the Recovery (Damage) Support Team and the External Organization Support Team. The Recovery (Damage) Support Team is directly managed by team leaders from four city departments who handle damage reception and administrative support. The External Organization Support Team includes representatives from the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, Korea Rail Network Authority, POSCO E&C, and NextTrain Co., Ltd., who support damage compensation and recovery procedures.
Park Seung-won, mayor of Gwangmyeong City, said, "We will take full responsibility and stand together until the citizens can quickly restore their daily lives, from accident management to damage recovery."
Gwangmyeong City plans to open 'Safe Housing (Safe Home),' which is provided to citizens facing housing crises due to emergencies such as disasters, to offer temporary housing guidance to households wishing to move in among the 22 households evacuated due to the emergency evacuation order and gas supply suspension within a 50-meter radius of the accident site.
On the 15th, the fifth day since the collapse accident at the Sinansan Line Gwangmyeong section construction site, rescue workers are conducting a search operation for the missing using heavy equipment. Photo by Yonhap News
Meanwhile, on the fifth day after the accident, the search for the missing person has made no progress. Hong Geon-pyo, head of the Fire Prevention Division at Gwangmyeong Fire Station, explained during a morning briefing at the site that "searches using rescue dogs were conducted, but no missing persons were found."
The fire authorities have stabilized the container hanging above and completed the removal of falling hazards such as steel plates. Hong said, "We cleared the land to allow heavy equipment to enter and removed obstacles to deploy rescue dogs," adding, "We will focus the search on areas where the missing person is presumed to be."
He added, "The rescue team has not yet reached the depth necessary to inspect inside the container," and "We are continuing safety measures while working underneath."
The accident occurred at around 3:13 p.m. on the 11th at the Shinansan Line double-track railway Section 5-2 construction site in Iljik-dong, Gwangmyeong City, where the underground tunnel construction site being built by POSCO E&C and the road above collapsed. Immediately after the accident, a worker in his 50s belonging to POSCO E&C went missing, and the search has continued for 90 hours to date.
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