 |
| The exterior wall of an apartment under construction at a site in Gwangju is seen collapsed, Jan. 11. Yonhap |
Six workers were unaccounted for after a facade of a high-rise apartment building under construction in the southwestern city of Gwangju collapsed Tuesday, police said.
At least one person was injured and about 10 vehicles were buried under the rubble.
A total of 394 people were working at the scene of the accident, but six of them were unaccounted for, although their mobile phones received network signal near the scene, police said.
The exterior wall of the apartment building crumbled down at the construction site in western Gwangju, 330 kilometers south of Seoul, at around 3:46 p.m., police said.
Three people trapped in a container were rescued, and one of them was taken to a hospital for injuries.
Rescue workers temporarily stopped searching the rubble for any other victims due to concerns that remains of the facade and a tower crane could collapse. On Wednesday, they will decide whether to resume the search after conducting safety checks.
Prime Minister Kim Boo-kyum instructed officials to swiftly find the whereabouts of the six workers who were unaccounted for.
The Gwangju Metropolitan Police said it has formed a probe unit to begin investigating the cause of the accident. (Yonhap)
