Search for 1 missing in subway construction site collapse enters 2nd day

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Search for 1 missing in subway construction site collapse enters 2nd day

Published: 12 Apr. 2025, 11:06 Updated: 12 Apr. 2025, 14:54

SARAH CHEA
[email protected]

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

Fire authorities on Saturday morning are continuing to search for one worker in his 50s who went missing in a collapse at an underground tunnel construction site for the Shinansan Line in Gwangmyeong, Gyeonggi.

The authorities mobilized search-and-rescue rescue dogs at the site to find the worker employed by Posco E&C, but his location remained uncertain, according to local reports.

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

Five workers were initially unreachable, but three were found safe, while another — an excavator driver in his 20s — was rescued 13 hours after the collapse some 30 meters (98 feet) underground.

Authorities are currently racing to find the fifth worker, and have deployed seven search-and-rescue dogs and plan to use heavy equipment as part of the operation.

Police and firefighters are facing difficulties in pinpointing the missing worker's location despite trying to pinpoint him through his mobile phone.

The weather agency has forecast rain of up to 40 millimeters (1.6 inches) with thunder and lightning in the wider capital area through early Sunday morning, which will likely impede search operations.

"As there is still someone missing, we will first focus all our efforts on rescue operations," a police official said. "Rain is forecasted later in the day, so our goal is to wrap up our operation before noon."

Police are separately conducting an initial probe to determine the cause of the collapse.

Personnel had been evacuated from the site earlier Friday after authorities were alerted to the risk of collapse following the discovery of cracks in multiple pillars.

The collapse prompted authorities to issue an evacuation order for some 2,400 residents nearby, which was lifted just past midnight after safety inspections. About 220 people who spent the night at shelters have all returned home.

BY YONHAP, SARAH CHEA [[email protected]]