A massive fire broke out in South Korea’s capital Seoul on Friday forcing around 500 people to flee as 60 homes burned to ashes, reported CNN citing officials.
The fire broke out in Guryong Village, one of the last remaining slums in Seoul. No deaths or injuries have been reported so far, the report mentioned.
The fire broke out around 6:28 a.m. in the fourth district of the village, the CNN report quoted an official with the Gangnam Fire Station as saying. He added that first responders arrived around five minutes later.
The official said that around 60 homes are believed to have burned down, adding most structures are made from vinyl plywood panels.
Videos of fire on social media show the flames engulfing what looks like rows of homes, with huge plumes of thick black smoke hanging above the slum as sirens wail nearby.
Around 500 people evacuated due to large fire burning at #GuryongVillage encampment in #Seoul, #SouthKorea pic.twitter.com/HcsI28GOL0
— Mamta Gusain (@Mamtagusain5) January 20, 2023
Officials said that over 800 response personnel have been mobilised, including firefighters, police, and governmental workers, while 10 helicopters have been deployed to assist with the response.
South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol, who is in Switzerland attending the World Economic Forum, has been notified of the fire and has ordered authorities to mobilise “all available personnel and equipment,” according to the presidential office, quoted CNN.
The President has also requested local governments to evacuate residents and ensure the safety of rescue workers, his office said.
Notably, according to the report, authorities have previously warned that Guryong residents are at particular risk of disasters, with the Gangnam government saying on its website that the slum was “vulnerable to fires” in 2019.
It was also hit hard by flooding last August when record rainfall killed at least 13 people in Seoul, including some residents trapped in the dingy “banjiha” basement homes depicted in the Oscar winner movie “Parasite.”
The Guryong slum has long been seen as a symbol of the gap between rich and poor in South Korea, Asia’s fourth-largest economy. It’s part of the wealthy, glittering Gangnam district, made famous by Psy’s 2012 song “Gangnam Style” and sometimes called the Beverly Hills of Seoul, adds CNN.
It adds that plans to redevelop the area stretch back at least a decade and numerous proposals have failed to reach the execution stage due to disagreements between local governing bodies and negotiations over land compensation.
These efforts are ongoing, with 406 households, more than a third of the slum’s population, relocated as of 2019, according to the Gangnam government website, added CNN report. More than 1,000 residents are still living there, Gangnam officials confirmed.
According to CNN, last November, the Seoul government said in a news release that authorities were working to help relocate about 1,500 households living in shacks across three major slums, including Guryong, into public housing instead.