[Anchor]

Yesterday afternoon, an offshore pedestrian bridge connecting a rocky shore and a beach in Guryongpo, Pohang, North Gyeongsang Province, collapsed. CCTV footage captured the harrowing moment when pedestrians narrowly escaped the accident by a hair's breadth.

TBC reporter Yang Byeong-woon reports.

[Reporter]

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

A column of water surges high into the air at the spot 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, Boritdol Bridge, an offshore pedestrian bridge connecting the coast of Janggil-ri, Guryongpo-eup, and the rocky shore, collapsed.

[Lee Seon-ok / Accident Witness: The sound was so loud that I looked out at the sea. Water was splashing up extremely high. I thought, did a boat pass by and splash water like that? But the sound was so loud that after coming outside and looking, the bridge was gone.]

About 50 meters of the offshore section out of the total 225-meter length collapsed, and 17 people who were temporarily trapped on the rocky shore were safely rescued.

[Im Jun-woo / Tourist Trapped on Rocky Shore: I was really shocked. If, by any chance, we [who were playing in the water] had been right there [under the bridge], we could have been in a major accident...]

A fishing park is built around the accident site, making it a popular spot frequented by anglers and tourists.

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 grade C rating in a safety inspection in 2024, and had some of its decks and piers reinforced last year.

Having collapsed helplessly just one year after the reinforcement work finished, strong suspicions of shoddy construction have been raised.

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

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

Yang Byeong-woon, TBC