Hundreds of people have been evacuated after a fire broke out in a slum in the South Korean capital Seoul.
According to reports, the Kowloon village fire on Friday morning destroyed about 60 homes.
No fatalities or injuries were reported.
South Korean media describe the area, which is packed with temporary housing, as the capital’s last remaining slum.
It took him five hours to put out the fire with more than 900 firefighters and several helicopters.
“As soon as I opened the door, I saw a pillar of fire coming up from one side,” a 72-year-old resident told Reuters. “It looks really hard and you can’t run away alone. So I knocked on the door and said ‘Fire!’ I screamed.” It was a mess. “
Hundreds evacuated in Seoul slum fire https://t.co/kIn4khCo4q
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President Yoon Seok-yeol called for comprehensive efforts to minimize damage and mobilize all available firefighters and equipment, according to a presidential spokesman. I am in Switzerland for the World Economic Forum Summit. The exact cause of the fire is still unknown, but the area was also at risk of fire and flooding, as many houses were built of cardboard and wood. Kowloon Village has suffered at least 16 fires since 2009, according to the Korea Times.
Founded in the 1980s by people displaced from their original area by a redevelopment project under the military regime at the time, disagreements between local government agencies and residents hampered development efforts in the area. was given.
On the outskirts of the affluent Gangnam neighbourhood, which has some of the most expensive real estate in the nation, is Kowloon Village.