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South Korea
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Huge blaze erupts in South Korea slum on edge of Seoul’s glitzy Gangnam district, hundreds evacuated

  • At least 60 homes were destroyed, with hundreds of firefighters, police officers and troops dispatched alongside 53 fire engines and 10 helicopters
  • Guryong Village, one of the last remaining slums in the capital of Asia’s fourth-largest economy, has been struck by at least 16 blazes since 2009

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Firefighters work to extinguish the blaze at Guryong village, the last slum in Seoul’s glitzy Gangnam district, on Friday morning. Photo: South Korea’s National Fire Agency/Yonhap via Reuters
Reuters
About 500 people were evacuated on Friday after a fire broke out in one of the last remaining shantytowns in Seoul just before Lunar New Year, South Korea’s biggest holiday.

The fire erupted at 6:27am in Guryong Village in southern Seoul, which is located near the affluent Gangnam district and is home to more than 660 households, and was extinguished about five hours later.

At least 60 homes in the 1,700-square-metre (18,000-square-foot) area were destroyed, fire officials said, with about 600 firefighters, police officers and troops dispatched to contain the blaze. No deaths or injuries have been reported so far, Shin Yong-ho, administrative director at the Gangnam Fire Station, told the media.

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‘How could this happen?’: Hundreds flee as fire rips through slum in South Korean capital, Seoul

‘How could this happen?’: Hundreds flee as fire rips through slum in South Korean capital, Seoul

The main fire was extinguished after emergency services deployed 53 fire engines and 10 helicopters, Shin said. People who had lost their homes would be accommodated temporarily in nearby hotels, according to the official.

President Yoon Suk-yeol, who is in Switzerland at the World Economic Forum, called for all-out efforts to minimise the damage and mobilise all available firefighters and equipment, his spokeswoman Kim Eun-hye said.

Interior Minister Lee Sang-min also instructed officials to prevent secondary damage and protect residents in nearby areas, the ministry said.

Guryong Village has been struck by at least 16 blazes since 2009. One of the last remaining slums, the village is a symbol of inequality in Asia’s fourth-largest economy just next to the flashy, affluent district of Gangnam.

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