S Korean firefighters tackle huge blaze in last of Seoul’s ‘shanty towns’

No casualties reported arsenic immense occurrence breaks retired successful colony of makeshift homes located connected fringe of Seoul’s upmarket Gangnam district.

Hundreds of South Korean firefighters are battling a large occurrence successful a deprived country located connected the fringe of the upmarket Gangnam territory successful the capital, Seoul.

The blaze broke retired astatine astir 5am section clip (20:00 GMT) connected Friday, and authorities raised the occurrence alert to the second-highest level, with immoderate 300 firefighters deployed to combat the blaze amid fears it mightiness dispersed to a adjacent mountain, the country’s authoritative Yonhap News Agency reports.

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There were nary archetypal reports of casualties arsenic dozens of residents successful Guryong Village, which was described by Yonhap arsenic “one of the past remaining shanty towns successful Seoul”, were forced to fly their homes, according to occurrence officials.

Photographs from the country showed ‍a towering file of achromatic fume hanging implicit the area, arsenic aged residents wearing look masks evacuated.

Yonhap reported that 85 occurrence trucks were sent to tackle the fire, and a firefighting chopper was prevented from participating owed to mediocre visibility.

“I was dormant until a neighbour called saying determination was a fire. I ran retired and saw the flames already spreading,” Kim Ok-im, 69, who said she had lived successful the country for astir 30 years, told the Reuters quality agency.

Residents evacuate from Guryong Village, the past shanty municipality successful the Gangnam district, successful Seoul, South Korea, connected Friday [Kim Hong-ji/Reuters]

Guryong Village is situated connected the fringe of the upmarket Gangnam district, which is known arsenic Seoul’s wealthiest country and commands immoderate of the highest prices paid for existent property successful South Korea.

The ramshackle lodging successful the colony formed successful the 1970s and 1980s, erstwhile low-income residents successful the country were forced to determination arsenic the superior underwent large redevelopment, including during the Asian Games and the Seoul Olympics.

At that time, locals settled connected the borderline of Gangnam without permits, according to a Seoul metropolis readying report.

The makeshift homes recovered successful the colony are ‌often densely packed unneurotic and built with highly flammable materials specified arsenic vinyl sheets, plywood and styrofoam, making the country peculiarly susceptible to fires, according to an appraisal by the occurrence section aft a blaze successful 2023.

Most residents person moved retired of Guryong, but astir 336 households remain, according to the Gangnam District metropolis readying department.