[Anchor]

This afternoon (July 28), a marine bridge connecting coastal rocks and the beach collapsed in Guryongpo, Pohang, North Gyeongsang Province. CCTV footage clearly captured the harrowing moment when pedestrians narrowly avoided an accident by just a few seconds.

Here is a report from TBC reporter Yang Byung-woon.

[Reporter]

The concrete bridge deck instantly buckles into a W-shape and plunges straight down into the sea.

A high column of water shoots up from the sea where the deck collapsed.

A pedestrian who had walked just about 10 meters away from the collapse point hastily turns back.

It was a terrifying moment that averted a major disaster.

At around 1:15 PM today, Boritdol Bridge, a marine pedestrian bridge connecting the coast and coastal rocks in Janggiri, Guryongpo-eup, collapsed.

[Lee Seon-ok / Accident Witness : The sound was so loud that I looked out toward the sea. When I looked, water was splashing up extremely high. So I thought, did a boat pass by and splash water like that? But because the sound was so loud, I came outside and saw that the bridge was gone.]

About 50 meters of the marine section out of the total 225-meter length collapsed, and 17 people who were temporarily stranded on the coastal rocks were safely rescued.

[Lim Jun-woo / Tourist Stranded on Coastal Rocks : I was really shocked. If by any chance we had been right there (under the bridge) enjoying the water, we could have been in a major accident....]

A fishing park is established around the accident site, making it a place frequently visited by anglers and tourists alike.

Because of this, the fire authorities and the Coast Guard conducted underwater searches multiple times, but there were no casualties.

The issue is the cause of the accident.

The collapsed bridge was completed in 2013, received a C grade in a safety inspection in 2024, and some decks and piers were reinforced last year.

With it collapsing helplessly just one year after finishing the reinforcement work, strong suspicions of shoddy construction are being raised.

Pohang City has closed marine bridges and similar marine facilities built within its jurisdiction and initiated safety inspections.

(Video by Go Dae-seung / TBC, Footage provided by viewer)

TBC Yang Byung-woon