A fire broke out on a highway in South Korea, at least 5 dead and nearly 40 injured, 77 fire trucks and helicopters rescued

2022-12-29 22:31:17 shows 1834℃

According to the South Korean fire department, at 13:49 local time on December 29, a bus collided with a freight truck on an expressway in Gwacheon, Gyeonggi-do, South Korea, causing a fire. As of 16:00 that day, the fire had killed at least 5 people and injured nearly 40 people.

Initially, authorities announced the death toll at six. But hours later, authorities said the count was wrong, putting the number at five. The death toll is currently calculated based on the number of remains in burned vehicles. Of those known to be injured, three were seriously injured and others were being treated for smoke inhalation.

A fire broke out on a highway in South Korea, at least 5 dead and nearly 40 injured, 77 fire trucks and helicopters rescued - Lujuba

South Korean highway fire broke out

firefighters extinguished the fire

Korea Fire Department issued a level 1 response at 14:10 that day, about 20 minutes after receiving the initial report. 10 minutes after issuing a first-level response, the Korea Fire Service raised the response level to a second level. About 77 fire trucks, 190 firefighters and a helicopter arrived at the scene for rescue. Citizens near the scene of the fire submitted about 200 calls for help.

At about 14:34 that day, the fire was basically extinguished, and the South Korean Fire Department lowered the response level to level one. At present, the rescue operation is still in progress. After the fire is completely extinguished, the police and fire authorities will conduct an investigation to find out the exact cause of the fire.