Major blaze in Seoul's Gangnam, about 50 evacuated, 300 firefighters rushed

A MAJOR fire erupted in a deprived area of the upmarket Gangnam district of southern Seoul, South Korea, early Friday, a fire official said. As many as 47 residents were evacuated while no casualties had been reported so far, an official at the Seoul Metropolitan Fire & Disaster Headquarters told Reuters.

According to local media, Seoul fire officials are working to contain a large fire that broke out early on Friday at the Guryong village in Gangnam-gu, southern Seoul.

Authorities received a report of the fire around 5 am (local time), issuing a Level-1 emergency response shortly after, the Korean Herald reported.

This (Level-1) refers to a lower-level disaster that can be handled by the fire response team in the area, as 234 firefighters, 70 police officials, and 120 district officials have been deployed so far, the report added.

Officials will investigate after the flames have been extinguished. The person who reported the case was quoted as saying, "An empty house had caught fire."

Restrictions imposed

Traffic in three lanes connecting the village to the adjacent Guryong Tunnel was restricted.

Interior Minister Yoon Ho-jung ordered officials to mobilise all available capacities to put out the fire, along with the evacuation of the residents in the area, according to the Korean Herald.

Meanwhile, Gangnam-gu district advised people to bypass the area, urging residents in the surrounding regions to be on alert.