The National Fire Agency announced that at 9 AM on the 12th, a joint situation assessment meeting was held at the site of the collapse accident at the public library construction site in Chipeong-dong, Seo-gu, Gwangju Metropolitan City. This meeting was organized to comprehensively review measures for stabilizing the structure and promoting safe search and rescue operations related to the accident where workers were buried due to the collapse of the construction structure during the ready-mixed concrete pouring work.
The meeting was attended by Minister of Employment and Labor Kim Young-hoon, Acting Commissioner of the National Fire Agency Kim Seung-ryong, Mayor of Gwangju Metropolitan City Kang Gi-jung, Director of Social Disaster Management at the Ministry of Interior and Safety, and experts in building structure safety diagnosis. So far, 2 out of 4 buried persons were rescued at 2:52 PM and 8:13 PM on the 11th, respectively, and rescue workers are continuing search and rescue operations for the remaining 2 persons, prioritizing site safety.
The meeting focused on discussing stabilization and reinforcement work to minimize the risk of further collapse of the structure, plans for removing large structures, and the necessity of phased implementation of search and rescue operations. Relevant departments and experts formed a consensus that it is important to simultaneously remove structures and search for people while ensuring safety after thoroughly analyzing site conditions.
Acting Commissioner Kim Seung-ryong emphasized, “Search and rescue operations must prioritize structure stabilization and site safety,” and added, “Work should be carried out under the principle of phased implementation of structure removal and search and rescue after stabilization and reinforcement work.” He continued, “We will proceed with the search for people while thoroughly implementing safety measures and closely cooperating with relevant agencies and private experts.”