Fire in Seoul neighborhood destroys at least 60 homes

Seoul, The Gulf Observer: A fire early Friday destroyed at least 60 homes in a neighborhood of densely packed, makeshift housing surrounded by some of the wealthiest streets of South Korea’s ultra-modern capital, forcing about 500 residents to flee.

Firefighters extinguished the flames in Seoul’s Guryong village within about five hours, and officials said no injuries or deaths had been reported as of Friday afternoon.

Shin Yong-ho, an official at the fire department of Seoul’s Gangnam district, said rescue workers were continuing to search areas affected by the fire but that it was believed that all residents have safely evacuated.

More than 800 firefighters, police officers and public workers fought the flames and handled evacuations after the fire began around 6:30 a.m.

Photos showed firefighters fighting the flames under thick, white smoke covering the village as helicopters sprayed water from above. Later orange-suited rescuers searched through the charred landscape where gray tendrils of smoke were still rising. The capital’s skyscrapers gleamed a short distance away.

Kim Ah-reum, an official at the Gangnam district office, said around 500 residents evacuated to nearby facilities including a school gym. Officials were planning to move an unspecified number of people whose homes were destroyed or severely damaged to three hotels.

The news of the fire alarmed South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol, who while visiting Switzerland for the Davos meetings instructed officials to mobilize all available resources to minimize damage and casualties, his spokesperson Kim Eun-hye said.

The country is still reeling from its worst disaster in almost a decade, after nearly 160 people died in a crowd surge at a Seoul nightlife district in October. Experts blame that deadly crush on poor planning by police and administrative officials, who failed to employ basic crowd control measures despite anticipating huge gatherings of Halloween revelers.

Guryong village, an illegal encampment located near some of Seoul’s most expensive real estate marked by towering high-rise apartments and lavish shopping districts, has long been a symbol of South Korea’s stark income inequalities.