500 South Koreans evacuated from fire in low-income Seoul neighbourhood – National | 24CA News

About 500 South Koreans had been compelled to flee their properties after a hearth unfold by means of a low-income neighborhood in southern Seoul on Friday morning and destroyed a minimum of 60 properties.

Officials mentioned firefighters had been bringing the fireplace beneath management at Guryong village and there have been no instant stories of accidents or deaths.

Shin Yong-ho, an official on the hearth division of Seoul’s Gangnam district, mentioned rescue staff had been persevering with to go looking areas affected by the fireplace however that it was believed that each one residents there have safely evacuated.

More than 800 firefighters, law enforcement officials and public staff had been deployed to combat the flame and deal with evacuations after the fireplace broke out round 6:30 a.m.

Photos from the scene confirmed firefighters combating the flame beneath thick white smoke overlaying the village recognized for its dense rows of makeshift homes as helicopters sprayed water from above.

Shin mentioned it was presumed that the fireplace started at one of many village’s properties made with plastic sheets and plywood. He mentioned the reason for the fireplace was being investigated.

Kim Ah-reum, an official on the Gangnam district workplace, mentioned round 500 residents have evacuated to close by amenities together with a faculty health club. Officials had been planning to later transfer the residents to close by motels.

President Yoon Suk Yeol, who’s in Switzerland on the World Economic Forum, referred to as for all-out efforts to reduce the injury and mobilize all out there firefighters and tools, his spokeswoman Kim Eun-hye mentioned.

Interior Minister Lee Sang-min additionally instructed officers to forestall secondary injury and defend residents in close by areas, the ministry mentioned.

One of the final remaining slums, the village is an emblem of inequality in Asia’s fourth-largest financial system simply subsequent to the flashy, prosperous district of Gangnam.

The space has additionally been vulnerable to fires, floods and different disasters, with many properties constructed utilizing cardboard and wooden, and residents uncovered to security and well being points.

Plans for redevelopment and relocation have made little progress amid a decades-long tug of conflict between land house owners, residents and authorities.

Seoul mentioned Mayor Oh Se-hoon visited the village and requested officers to attract up measures to relocate households affected by the fireplace.

—With recordsdata from Reuters

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