1 injured, 6 missing as outer wall of S. Korea’s apartment building collapses

SEOUL: JAN. 11 – The outer wall of an apartment building under construction in South Korea’s southwestern city Gwangju collapsed, leaving one worker injured and six others missing, Yonhap news agency reported Tuesday.

It was reported to the firefighting authorities at about 3:46 p.m. local time that the exterior wall of the multipurpose apartment building crumbled down at the construction site in Gwangju, about 330 km south of the capital Seoul.

Two people, trapped in a roadside container, were rescued. One person was slightly injured after being hit by rubble while working on the first floor.

Three others evacuated on their own, and some 10 vehicles were buried under the debris.

Six construction workers remained unaccounted for. Police and rescue workers stopped research operations for fear of further collapse.

The authorities will reportedly decide on whether to resume rescue operations after doing a safety check on Wednesday morning.

-Xinhua