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One worker missing, one trapped after tunnel collapse in Gyeonggi

Published: 11 Apr. 2025, 20:00 Updated: 11 Apr. 2025, 20:05

Collapsed section of the Sinansan Line construction site in Gwangmyeong, Gyeonggi, on April 11 [YONHAP]

A collapse at an underground tunnel construction site for the Shinansan Line in Gwangmyeong, Gyeonggi, has trapped a worker, and a special response unit from the fire department has managed to get close to the worker awaiting rescue, but is facing difficulties in the operation as of Friday 7:10 p.m.

Rescue workers from the special response unit under the Gyeonggi Fire and Disaster Headquarters have approached close enough to hear the voice of one worker trapped underground due to the accident, according to the police and fire authorities the same day.

Two missing after subway construction site collapse in Gyeonggi

The worker is an excavator operator who had been in phone contact with rescue authorities after being trapped. Although communication was cut off several times, the worker was ultimately confirmed to be alive.

Rescue workers reported that although the worker’s face could not be seen, they could hear his voice.

Additionally, it was reported that there was a smell of gas near the site where the worker is trapped, making the rescue operation more difficult.

Police and fire authorities suspect that a gas pipeline passes through the area and have requested the Korea Gas Safety Corporation to shut off the gas.

“It looks like the rescue operation will take a significant amount of time,” said a rescue authority official.

A subway construction site collapsed at around 3:40 p.m., hours after authorities evacuated the location due to safety concerns. A report was filed Friday around noon that structural cracks had appeared on a support pillar at the construction site.

As the underground space collapsed, some above-ground roads and commercial facilities were damaged. No additional casualties were reported as a result.

Although authorities evacuated workers and police closed off a roughly one-kilometer (0.62 miles) stretch of road between Yangji Intersection in Gwangmyeong and Hohyeon Intersection in Anyang, contact could not be established with two workers after the collapse, according to local reports.

As a result, one worker remains trapped underground and another is still missing.

Translated from the JoongAng Ilbo using generative AI and edited by Korea JoongAng Daily staff.

BY JEONG JAE-HONG, LIM JEONG-WON [[email protected]]