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| Rescuers comb through debris, looking for workers who are still missing after a deadly apartment construction accident in the southwestern city of Gwangju, Jan. 14. Yonhap |
Search and rescue operations resumed at the site of a collapsed apartment building in the southwestern city of Gwangju for a fourth day Friday.
According to the Gwangju Fire and Safety Headquarters, the search for six missing persons resumed at 7 a.m. with 71 rescue workers aided by 43 pieces of equipment and eight rescue dogs.
Exterior walls of the 39-story building under construction in Gwangju, 330 kilometers south of Seoul, crumbled Tuesday, trapping construction workers at the site.
Three workers were rescued in the initial search operation, with one of them sustaining injuries from falling rubble. But six who were working on the upper floors of the building are still missing.
One person was found trapped near the handrail of a set of stairs on the first basement floor Thursday, and rescue workers were trying to remove concrete debris and iron wires to save him, the fire headquarters said, adding he may be one of the six people unaccounted for. It is still unknown whether he is alive or dead.
The agency expects the search and rescue operations to take a considerable amount of time due to the amount of fallen debris. Heavy objects were being lifted with heavy equipment, and rescue workers were dismantling reinforcing bars.
The agency said an intensive search was under way on the 22nd, 25th, 26th and 28th floors, where rescue dogs had responded to potentially trapped people. (Yonhap)
