7 dead, 9 injured in the submerged South Korean underpass
At least seven people were found dead in a flooded underpass located in Oseong-eup, Cheongju, North Chungcheong Province as of Sunday morning. Fire authorities are continuing drainage operations that took place overnight to search for further casualties.
Six deaths were reported Sunday, increasing the death toll to seven as of 10 a.m. Sunday. At around 8 a.m. Sunday, fire authorities found a woman in her 70s and four unidentified bodies on a bus. Another body was found near the entrance to the underpass at around 8:50 a.m.
The first death was reported shortly after the tunnel became flooded Saturday.
Also on Sunday, a vehicle was found 50 meters away from the underpass entrance, but no passenger was found.
The Gungpyeong 2 underpass became submerged at around 8:40 a.m. Saturday as a nearby river bank collapsed due to heavy downpours. Water flooded into the underpass within minutes, and about 15 vehicles including a public bus became trapped in the four-lane tunnel. The exact number of people who were inside the underpass tunnel is still unclear.
The number of casualties is expected to increase, as 11 people have been reported missing after the incident. Surveillance camera footage near the road showed more than 10 vehicles trapped in the underpass.
The total length of the Gungpyeong 2 underpass is 685 meters. The underpass is estimated to be filled with about 60,000 metric tons of water, according to fire authorities. A large drainage pump was used to drain 30,000 litres of water per minute since Saturday, but the operation slowed down due to an inflow of muddy water from the nearby Miho River.
Lee Jung-youn
The Korea Herald
Asia News Network
