About 200 people displaced by fire in Seoul's low-income town
About 200 people were displaced by a fire Friday that ravaged through a low-income town in southern Seoul, with firefighters putting out the blaze about eight hours after it began, officials said, Yonhap reported.
The fire broke out at around 5 a.m. in the Guryong village, one of the last-remaining shanty towns in Seoul, before being extinguished at 1:28 p.m. No casualties have so far been reported.
The fire had quickly spread to other parts of the village, prompting authorities to evacuate 258 people from the area. Some 180 residents are presumed to have lost their homes in the fire.
The Seoul city government has set up a temporary shelter at a nearby middle school.
Authorities deployed a total of 1,258 personnel and 106 pieces of firefighting equipment to the scene after receiving an initial report of a fire at an unoccupied house. They plan to investigate the exact cause of the blaze.
Fire authorities suspect the flames spread quickly as the houses in the area are built with flammable materials, such as thermal cotton and plywood.
The Guryong village is located on the fringes of Gangnam, known for the country's most expensive real estate. It was formed in the 1980s when low-income residents of the region were forced to move out of their homes as the city carried out development projects.
Makeshift houses illegally built at the foot of Mount Guryong are prone to electric malfunctions and fire, as they are built with flammable materials.
The area is considered the last remaining slum of the Gangnam area and is awaiting redevelopment.
Earlier, Qazinform reported that Swiss authorities banned pyrotechnics after Crans-Montana fire.
