Korea launches inspection into deadly underpass flooding in Osong

Special Forces The 13th Special Forces Brigade agents are conducting a search operation on an underpass in Osong, North Chungcheong Province, in the early morning of July 17. [Photo by Yonhap]

The South Korean government has launched an inspection to determine the cause of a flooding of an underpass in Osong, North Chungcheong Province, which has led to the death of 14 people.

The Office for Government Policy Coordination confirmed Monday that there were two emergency calls requesting “urgent control of the Gungpyeong underground passage” at 7:02 a.m. and 7:58 a.m. when the flooding happened on Saturday.

The Office has started collecting basic data on danger reports and subsequent measures received by the police and fire departments, as well as the local governments responsible for the site, such as North Chungcheong Province, Cheongju City, and Heungdeok District.

The Office, in particular, plans to look into the safety measures taken by the local governments, police and fire departments, to determine why traffic control was not implemented in a timely manner.

The inspection comes after five more bodies were recovered from the underground roadway in Osong, raising the death toll from the flooding accident to 14.

The search operation inside the roadway has been concluded after the list of missing persons following the accident was confirmed. The total number of deaths and missing persons nationwide from the concentrated heavy rains between July 9 and 17 is estimated at 50.

The accident is being criticized as a collective failure in the response of local governments and administrative agencies.

President Yoon Suk Yeol, in the meantime, presided over a meeting of the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters on Monday and instructed to “utilize all policy means, including declaring a special disaster zone, to swiftly carry out follow-up measures.”

“The most important thing now is to prevent and minimize human casualties,” Yoon said, urging government officials responsible for national safety to go out to the field and assess the situation and take active measures instead of just sitting in their offices when there is heavy rainfall.

The Ministry of the Interior and Safety announced that it will provide emergency support of 10.65 billion won ($8.4 million) to 11 local governments, including North Chungcheong Province and North Gyeongsang Province, as a special subsidy for concentrated heavy rain disaster safety.