Cause of major blaze in deprived area of Seoul's Gangnam to be investigated

Bangkok Post Group

A major fire broke out in a deprived area of the upmarket Gangnam district of Seoul early on Friday (January 16). The blaze was brought under control and fully extinguished about eight hours later, a fire official said with investigators now trying to determine how it started. - REUTERS

Transcript

00:00Devastated residents watched their homes burn on Friday as a fire tore through a densely packed hillside slum in southern Seoul.

00:10The fire in Guyong village broke out around 5 in the morning on Friday, with residents waking to the blaze.

00:18I was asleep when a neighbour called saying there was a fire.

00:24I ran out and saw the flames already spreading.

00:29While no casualties were reported, 258 residents living in the affected areas were evacuated,

00:37and over 300 firefighters and 100 vehicles were deployed to put out the blaze.

00:44It was fully extinguished by early afternoon, South Korea's National Fire Agency said.

00:50I've lived here for 30 years.

00:56A few years ago, a flood swept everything away, and now it feels like this fire will take away the rest.

01:04The village is a pocket of ramshackle housing in Gangnam, one of Seoul's wealthiest districts.

01:10The makeshift homes are often densely packed together and built with highly flammable materials.

01:15It is due to be redeveloped into high-rise residential buildings.

01:19Many residents have moved out for the redevelopment, but about 336 households remain, according to the city planning department.

01:27Authorities say they will conduct an investigation into the cause of the fire and the damages it caused.

01:33ros in Gangnam.

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