South Korea says one worker missing in rail construction site collapse
The Korea Train Express standing at a railway station in Gwangmyeong, west of Seoul, on Feb 10, 2004. (File photo: AFP/ Jung Yeon-Je)
SEOUL: One worker is missing following the collapse of a rail construction site in South Korea on Friday (Apr 11), the national fire agency said.
The fire agency said that an excavator operator remains missing, while a second worker has been located, but remains trapped in the rubble.
The incident happened in Gwangmyeong, southwest of the capital Seoul, where workers were constructing a new commuter rail line that will connect Seoul's Yeouido district to Ansan and Siheung in Gyeonggi province, the country's most populous region.
The fire agency said the collapse occurred during "tunnel reinforcement work". It added that 55 firefighters had been deployed for the rescue operation.
The site had already been evacuated due to safety concerns early Friday morning, before the collapse, and police had closed off a 1km stretch of road around the construction area.
A police official told local media that a site supervisor had reported cracks in an underground support column, which led to a joint response with city authorities.
"There were concerns over possible ground subsidence, so we blocked the road as a precaution," the official told reporters.
Police said they would keep the road closed until the reinforcement work is finished and the site is deemed to be safe.
The incident follows a deadly collapse of a highway construction site at Anseong, south of Seoul, in February as well as a 20m sinkhole in Seoul that killed a motorcyclist in March.
