SEOUL — Five individuals have been killed and dozens injured after a bus and truck crash induced an enormous hearth at an expressway tunnel on the outskirts of Seoul, the native hearth division advised AFP.
Images of the scene in native media confirmed big flames and plumes of smoke rising from the tunnel, as tons of of firefighters battled to convey the blaze underneath management.
The hearth began when a bus collided with a truck at round 1:50 p.m. (0450 GMT) within the expressway tunnel in Gwacheon, an official on the Gwacheon hearth division advised AFP.
The raised tunnel, which is designed to guard surrounding buildings from the noise of the highway, was shortly engulfed in flames, photographs in native media confirmed.
Firefighters have introduced the blaze underneath management, the official stated.
“We are doing a search inside the tunnel in case of additional casualties,” the official added.
After initially saying that six individuals had been killed, authorities have revised down the demise toll to 5, with 37 individuals injured.
Some of the injured have suffered from burns, the official stated.
“Three have suffered burns on facial areas while the rest are being treated for smoke inhalation,” he stated.
Interior Minister Lee Sang-min referred to as for “maximum resources deployed” to save lots of lives, the Yonhap News Agency reported.
“I urge the authorities to put out the best efforts to save the lives of those who have not escaped,” he stated.
The deadly accident comes simply months after 150 individuals, principally younger ladies, have been killed in a Halloween crowd crush within the Itaewon nightlife district.
South Korea’s fast transformation from a war-torn, impoverished backwater to Asia’s fourth-largest financial system and a flourishing democracy is a supply of nice nationwide delight.
But a sequence of preventable disasters—together with Itaewon, and the Sewol ferry sinking which killed greater than 300 individuals in 2014—has shaken public confidence.
Many South Koreans have questioned whether or not security requirements have been sidelined and rules ignored within the rush for improvement, with the lengthy toll of accidents leaving a legacy of bitterness and distrust. — Agence France-Presse
