Major Fire Extinguished Overnight in Guryong Village After Nearly 13 Hours

[Anchor]

Yesterday afternoon, a large fire broke out in Guryong Village, Gangnam-gu, often referred to as Seoul's last remaining shanty town. While there were no major casualties, it took nearly 13 hours to completely extinguish the flames.

Reporter Kim Minjun has the details.

[Reporter]

Fierce flames and thick black smoke continuously billowed from tightly clustered makeshift buildings.

At around 3:50 PM yesterday, a major fire broke out in District 2 of Guryong Village, located in Gangnam-gu, Seoul.

Approximately 190,000 square meters, an area equivalent to 26 soccer fields, were burned. The fire authorities briefly issued a Level 2 response, mobilizing personnel and equipment from neighboring fire stations.

Firefighters faced difficulties in initial suppression due to strong winds exceeding 5 meters per second and a shortage of water supply.

Explosion sounds resembling bursting LPG gas cylinders were heard multiple times, and as the fire spread to Districts 1 and 7, black smoke was witnessed across various parts of Gyeonggi Province.

[Guryong Village Resident: I am 91 years old now, and my body is shaking. I came out without even being able to put on clothes, so I'm cold and at a loss for words.]

There were no major casualties as 39 residents and others evacuated on their own, though a woman in her 30s sprained her ankle during evacuation and is currently receiving treatment at a hospital.

The Gangnam District Office reported that 77 households and 107 people were affected.

Following the downgrade of the response level last night, the fire authorities stated that they completely brought the flames under control at around 4:40 AM today, 12 hours and 50 minutes after the fire started.

[Kim Hyun-seok / Head of Fire Administration Division, Seoul Gangnam Fire Station: The major fires have now been completely put out, and we are currently in the process of clearing remaining spot fires.]

The fire authorities stated that they are securing residents' contact information to investigate whether everyone has evacuated, and added that they will also investigate the exact cause of the fire and the scale of the damage.

Seoul Housing & Communities Corporation stated that Guryong Village, which once consisted of 1,107 households, currently has only 54 households remaining as redevelopment projects are underway.

(Video by Choi Dae-woong, Yoon Hyeong, Kang Si-woo)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.