"The bridge suddenly collapsed."

Following the sudden collapse of the Boritdol Bridge in Janggil-ri, Guryongpo-eup, Nam-gu, Pohang, North Gyeongsang Province, this afternoon (the 28th), emergency calls poured into the 119 dispatch center reporting that a bridge had collapsed and people were trapped.

Rescue workers arrived at the scene 12 minutes after the report and, together with private fishing boats, sequentially rescued 17 people, including tourists and anglers, who were trapped across the sea.

Although the collapsed section spanned about 50 meters—the distance between two piers—no casualties have been reported so far as no pedestrians were crossing the bridge at the time.

Authorities conducted an underwater search and are currently investigating the exact cause of the collapse.

The accident was reported at 1:15 p.m. today.

When the Boritdol Bridge installed at the Janggil-ri Complex Fishing Park in Guryongpo-eup, Nam-gu, Pohang collapsed, urgent reports flooded the 119 dispatch center.

The reports included statements such as "The bridge has collapsed" and "The middle of the bridge has caved in."

Rescue teams arrived at the scene 12 minutes later at 1:27 p.m.

Completed in 2013, the Boritdol Bridge is a marine pedestrian bridge standing 10 meters high with a total length of 170 meters.

Among it, a section of about 50 meters, equivalent to the distance between two piers, suddenly collapsed and sank into the sea.

Due to the accident, 17 people, including tourists, were temporarily stranded on the opposite side of the bridge.

Before the Coast Guard arrived, the fire authorities who reached the scene quickly deployed in cooperation with private fishing boats to rescue them one by one.

By 2:01 p.m., all 17 trapped individuals were safely rescued, and no injuries were reported.

Rescue workers also mobilized diving equipment to conduct an underwater search around the collapsed area.

This was to check for any possible fall accidents.

Fortunately, the initial search results showed no additional victims.

Upon reviewing closed-circuit (CC) TV footage from the scene, the fire authorities confirmed that no one was crossing the bridge at the time of the collapse.

A police official stated, "It has been confirmed that there were no pedestrians on the bridge at the moment of the collapse," adding, "No casualties have been identified so far."

(Photo: Provided by reader, Yonhap News)