Massive fire breaks out in one of Seoul’s last slums, 500 people evacuated

• South Korean President mobilized emergency services to the Guryong slum in Seoul’s Gangnam district.
• Social media videos show the fire burning.
• Ten helicopters have been deployed to help with the response.

Social media videos show the fire burning what appear to be rows of homes, with enormous plumes of thick, black smoke hovering over the slum and adjacent sirens wailing.

Ten helicopters have been deployed to help with the response, and more than 800 reaction people, including firefighters, police officers, and government employees, have been mobilized, according to Shin.

According to the presidential office, South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol, who is currently attending the World Economic Forum in Switzerland, was informed of the incident and instructed authorities to mobilize “all available personnel and equipment.”

According to his office, Yoon also asked local governments to evacuate residents and guarantee the security of rescue personnel.

One of the last slums in Seoul

The Gangnam government stated on its website that the slum was “prone to fires” in 2019. Guryong inhabitants have long been informed that they are particularly at danger of calamities.

It was also severely affected by flooding in August of last year, when record-breaking rainfall in Seoul killed at least 13 people, including some locals trapped in the run-down “banjiha” basement dwellings shown in the film “Parasite.”

Less than a kilometer separates Gangnam’s high-rise apartment buildings from Guryong’s shacks, where many locals reside in crowded, improvised homes made of materials like wood and corrugated iron.

Despite the fact that the region has been the subject of redevelopment plans for at least ten years, various schemes have failed as a result of conflicts between regional authorities and talks over land compensation.

According to the Gangnam government website, these efforts are ongoing with 406 households, or more than a third of the slum’s population, having been evacuated as of 2019. There are still around 1,000 residents there, according to information provided by Gangnam officials on Friday.

A local official revealed more redevelopment plans for the area in May, stating that the site would be developed into “an eco-friendly luxury residential complex.”

According to a news release from the Seoul government from last November, authorities are working to assist in the relocation of roughly 1,500 shack-dwelling households from three significant slums, including Guryong.

The city intends to finally “remove anomalous homes such as shacks and vinyl houses,” it was further said.

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