Unidentified body found near Sincheongpyeong Bridge, 11 days after flooding

The body of an unidentified woman was found in Gapyeong, Gyeonggi, increasing the flood death toll to seven. One person remains missing.

Police and fire authorities search the area where an body, presumed to be one of the missing people who were swept away by floods due to heavy rainfall on July 20, was discovered near Sincheongpyeong Bridge in Gapyeong, Gyeonggi, on July 31. [GYEONGGI NORTHERN FIRE AND DISASTER HEADQUARTERS]

The body of an unidentified flood victim was discovered beneath mud and vegetation near Sincheongpyeong Bridge in Gapyeong, Gyeonggi, on Thursday afternoon.

The body was found around 4:45 p.m. by search teams combing the area for those missing after the region was hit by torrential rain on July 20, according to police and fire authorities. The remains were heavily decomposed and covered in soil and debris, making immediate identification — including gender — difficult. However, after recovery and examination, the body was determined to be female, search authorities announced.

Fingerprint and DNA testing are underway. If fingerprints can be recovered, officials say identification could come as early as within Thursday. Otherwise, DNA analysis could take between one and three days.

Before the discovery, the official tally stood at six dead and two missing due to the July 20 floods in Gapyeong. If the body is confirmed to be one of the missing, the number of deceased would rise to seven, with one person still unaccounted for.

The missing included a woman in her 40s swept away by a landslide at a glamping site in Mail-ri and a man in his 50s who was pulled into floodwaters near the Deokhyeon-ri riverbank.

Officials from the Gyeonggi Northern Police Agency search for a missing person in the Jojongcheon Valley in Deokhyeon-ri, Gapyeong, Gyeonggi, on July 27. [OH SO-YEONG]

If the woman found Thursday is confirmed to be the missing mother from Mail-ri, all three members of the four-person family who went missing at the glamping site — aside from the rescued eldest son — will have been recovered.

On July 24, search parties found the body of a teenage boy in Deokhyeon-ri, Sang-myeon. The next day, he was confirmed to be the younger son of the family of four, who had gone missing with his mother during the landslide. His body was found about 9 kilometers (5.5 miles) downstream from the campsite, further than the six-kilometer distance where his father's body was discovered.

The father, a man in his 40s, was found entangled under a bridge in Daebo-ri around 4:20 a.m. on July 20.

An official from the Gyeonggi Northern Police Agency searches for a missing person in the Jojongcheon Valley in Deokhyeon-ri, Gapyeong, Gyeonggi on July 27. [OH SO-YEONG]

Initially, rescue officials believed the family comprised three people, but they later confirmed that there were four. The high school-aged eldest son was rescued at the scene with injuries and airlifted to a hospital. Authorities said he has not been able to undergo questioning due to trauma from the accident.

Search efforts have continued for 12 straight days to find the two people still missing in Gapyeong. On Thursday, 997 personnel — including 295 police officers, 265 firefighters and 433 soldiers — were deployed along with 132 additional units, such as drones, boats, rescue dogs and helicopters.

Search crews have divided the 104-kilometer stretch from the Mail-ri campsite to the Gimpo estuary of the Han River into seven zones for ground, aerial and aquatic operations.

Translated from the JoongAng Ilbo using generative AI and edited by Korea JoongAng Daily staff. BY JEON ICK-JIN,CHOI MO-RAN [lim.jeongwon@joongang.co.kr]