Four dead, six injured in South Korean bridge collapse
This dashcam video grab made available on Feb 25, 2025 by Yonhap news agency shows a bridge collapsing at an expressway construction site in Cheonan. (Photo: AFP/Yonhap)
SEOUL: Four people were killed and six injured after a bridge collapsed at an expressway construction site in South Korea on Tuesday (Feb 25), authorities said.
Local media aired dramatic footage of what appeared to be a section of the bridge collapsing, sending a massive cloud of smoke into the air.
Ko Kyung-man, an Anseong fire official, said that four people had died, including two Chinese nationals.
Of the six injured, five were in critical condition. One of the five was also a Chinese national.Â
"They were working to install a deck on the bridge," Ko told a televised briefing. "All of the 10 were up on the deck ... and fell from both sides when it collapsed."
The incident occurred around 9.50am local time (8.50am, Singapore time) in Anseong, around 65km south of the South Korean capital.
Five 50m steel structures supporting the highway bridge collapsed one after another after being hoisted into place by a crane, the Yonhap news agency reported.
Rescue workers at the site were seen examining twisted metal struts and fractured concrete slabs below the columns of the highway bridge.
All individuals who suffered injuries are currently being treated at hospitals," the National Fire Agency's spokesperson said.
The National Fire Agency had initially said it took place in the nearby city of Cheonan but later corrected that claim.
Hyundai Engineering, the main contractor of the construction site, apologised and said it was assisting authorities.
"We sincerely bow our heads in apology to those who lost their precious lives and were injured in the accident at our construction site," it said.
"We are actively cooperating with the relevant authorities to ensure a prompt resolution on-site" and to identify the cause of the accident, the company said.
Acting President Choi Sang-mok has issued urgent directives to mobilise all available resources and personnel for the rescue operation.
The National Fire Agency said it mobilised three helicopters and nearly 150 officials for the search and rescue operation and the Transport Ministry said it dispatched a team of officials to the scene.
Deadly accidents continue to regularly occur at industrial sites in South Korea, which introduced a law in 2022 to address safety lapses and punish company management if a worker is killed on the job.
Earlier in February, six people died in a fire at a hotel construction site in the port city of Busan, with around 100 people evacuated, including 14 workers plucked to safety by a helicopter after they had taken refuge on a rooftop.
In June last year, a fire at a lithium battery factory that authorities blamed on quality control failures and inadequate safety training killed 23 workers.
Data released in March by South Korea's labour ministry showed that 598 industrial workers died in 2023, with the construction sector accounting for nearly half, or 303, though the total death toll was down from 644 in 2022.
