President Yoon Suk- yeol called for all steps and procedures to minimise the damage and mobilise all available firefighters and outfit, according to his spokesman. Mr Yoon is presently in Switzerland for the World Economic Forum at Davos. The exact cause of the fire is still unknown, but the area has also been prone to fires and cataracts, with numerous homes erected using cardboard and wood. According to the Korea Times, Guryong Village has suffered at least 16 fires since 2009.
The fire broke out around 6.28 a.m. in the fourth quarter of the village, said Shin Yong- ho, a functionary with the Gangnam Fire Station, in a televised briefing. First askers arrived around five twinkles later, he said. It was extinguished around 11.50a.m. original time and damaged an area of 700 square metres. Further more than 800 response labor forces have been mustered, including firefighters, police and governmental workers, while 10 copters have been stationed to help with the response, Shin said.
The agreement was formed around 1988 by squatters evicted from other areas of Seoul in the nation’s drive to develop its capital previous to hosting the Olympics. There were around 550 homes remaining in Guryong as of last time, according to data from the state- run Seoul Housing and Communities Corporation, with numerous believed to be living with little or no proper sanitation. One of the last remaining slums, the village is a symbol of inequality in Asia’s fourth- largest frugality just next to the flashy, rich quarter of Gangnam.
The area has also been prone to fires, cataracts and other disasters, with numerous homes erected using cardboard and wood, and residents exposed to safety and health issues. Authorities are working to help dislocate about 500 homes living in shanties across three major slums, including Guryong, into public housing, the Seoul government said in a news release last November.
