President orders probe into Gwangju tragedy that killed 9

Firefighters work to remove the remains of a five-story building that collapsed on a city bus in Gwanjgu Wednesday afternoon. At least nine were killed and eight seriously injured in the accident. [CHUNG JEONG-PIL]

President Moon Jae-in ordered a thorough investigation into the deadly collapse of a building being demolished in Gwangju, which killed at least nine people trapped in a city bus.

Eight people were seriously injured and authorities were unsure if there were more victims unaccounted for.

“I offer my deepest condolences to the victims, their families and the people of Gwangju,” Moon was quoted as saying Thursday by Blue House spokeswoman Park Kyung-mee.

According to Park, Moon also ordered the Gwangju Metropolitan Government and Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport and Ministry of Interior and Safety to offer all possible support to the victims’ families holding funerals.

The five-story building in the southwestern city of Gwangju collapsed Wednesday afternoon, killing at least nine people and seriously injuring eight others.

Fire authorities received a report around 4:20 p.m. Wednesday that the building collapsed during a demolition project and fell onto a bus stopped at a station in front of the construction site.

Nine people were found dead as of Thursday morning, and eight others were rescued but suffered severe injuries. All were on the bus.

Rescue workers were continuing to search Thursday to see if there were any more victims buried under massive amounts of debris.

The Blue House said Moon ordered the police and the Land Ministry on Thursday to conduct investigations into the accident, particularly to check if safety regulations were ignored during the demolition project.

BY SER MYO-JA [ser.myoja@joongang.co.kr]