25.03.25.Today News : Man in cardiac arrest found in sinkhole / Forest Service issues ‘severe’ wildfire national crisis alert

1. Man in cardiac arrest found in sinkhole

1. Man buried in sinkhole in Gangdong-gu, Seoul found in cardiac arrest after 17 hours

A motorcyclist who was buried in a 20-meter-diameter sinkhole in the middle of a road in Gangdong-gu, Seoul, was found dead on Friday. It was about 17 hours after an all-night search was conducted following the accident.

According to firefighters, Park Mo-ri, 34, went missing at around 6:29 p.m. the previous day when she fell into a sinkhole while riding her motorcycle from the intersection of Daemyung Elementary School in Gangdong-gu toward the three-way intersection of Gildong Ecological Park. Park was found by firefighters in cardiac arrest at around 11:22 a.m. that day at the bottom of the sinkhole, near the tunnel section of the Subway Line 9 construction site. This is about 50 meters from the center of the sinkhole. Park was still wearing his helmet and bicycle boots when he was found.

“It was not easy to rescue him because there were about 2,000 tons of water, soil, and heavy equipment from a nearby construction site mixed inside the sinkhole,” said Kim Chang-seob, chief of the fire administration section of the Gangdong Fire Department. “We had to use two excavators to scrape out all the water and soil before we were able to find him.” Mr. He, 48, who drove past the crash site in a carnival vehicle before Mr. Park, was narrowly ejected and is being treated for his injuries. “I heard thunder and lost consciousness for about 10 seconds,” He said.

When the sinkhole first appeared, it was about 18 meters across and 20 meters long, with four lanes. Over time, it grew another two meters across. The total depth of the ground where the ground gave way is 18 meters. The sinkhole was found to be free of abnormalities during a special government inspection about three months ago. In December last year, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, and Transport conducted a GPR (ground penetrating radar) survey, but no cavities were found. A routine inspection by a Seoul city service company in June 2019 also showed no abnormalities, but the cause of the accident and its connection to subway construction is still cautiously discussed. The road where the sinkhole occurred is located above the construction site of Subway Line 9, and tunnel excavation work was underway underground. Four to five employees working at the site were reportedly evacuated shortly before the accident occurred.

“The tunnel excavation point and the sinkhole point almost coincided,” a Seoul Metropolitan Government official said at an on-site briefing. "We are not ruling out a connection between the subway construction and the sinkhole accident. We will only be able to say after a comprehensive investigation to analyze the cause."

In addition, since the beginning of this month, there have been numerous complaints of cracks in the floor of gas stations near the sinkhole. On March 6, a complaint was filed with the Seoul Metropolitan Government's Urban Infrastructure Division regarding cracks in the gas station floor. In response, the supervisory team and contractor of Subway Line 9 checked the area and found no ground subsidence. The Seoul Metropolitan Government plans to conduct a joint investigation with outside experts and related organizations to determine the cause of the accident. The police are also conducting a preliminary investigation (internal investigation) into the sinkhole accident. The sudden sinkhole in the middle of the road has caused fear and anxiety, even deaths.

One-line summary : A motorcyclist was found dead in a 20-meter-diameter sinkhole in Gangdong-gu, Seoul, and an investigation is underway into the cause of the accident and its connection to subway construction.

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2. Forest Service issues ‘severe’ wildfire national crisis alert

The Korea Forest Service has issued a 'severe' forest fire alert for all regions of the country. The Fire and Rescue Service issued the third stage of firefighting response to the wildfire in Uisung-gun, Gyeongbuk.

"As additional forest fires are occurring across the country, we have issued a national crisis alert at 4 p.m. to fully respond to the forest fire disaster crisis," the Korea Forest Service said on the 25th.

The fire, which broke out in Sancheong-gun, Gyeongnam, on Nov. 21, is spreading to Jinju City. Large wildfires in Ulju-gun, Ulsan, and Uijeongseong on the 22nd are also spreading to neighboring areas without being contained, and the wildfire in Uijeongseong is affecting Cheongsong-gun, Andong-si, and Yeongdeok-gun, Yeongyang-gun.

On the afternoon of the 22nd, the Korea Forest Service upgraded the forest fire disaster warning from “caution” to “severe” for Chungcheong, Honam, and Yeongnam, and from ‘caution’ to “warning” for Seoul, Incheon, Gyeonggi, Gangwon, and Jeju. However, as the wildfires were revived by strong winds and spread eastward, the national forest fire alert level was raised to ‘severe’ for the entire country.

In areas where the warning has been upgraded to 'severe', at least one-fourth of government employees and one-twoth of public service workers are required to be on standby for deployment. Military exercises will be restricted, and permission to enter mountainous areas will be suspended.

After issuing an additional national fire mobilization order for the Uisheng area the previous afternoon, the Fire and Rescue Service again issued a three-stage fire response to the Uisheng wildfire area this afternoon. The purpose of the order is to protect facilities such as civilian houses and temples, guide evacuation of residents and rescue and protect lives, and manage the safety of firefighters on the scene.

"Forest fires are occurring simultaneously across the country due to hot and dry weather, and strong winds are likely to spread small fires into large ones," said Lee Yong-kwon, a forest disaster controller at the Korea Forest Service. "We will maintain a close cooperation system with related organizations such as local governments, firefighting headquarters, military units, and police, and mobilize all available resources to extinguish the fires."

One-line summary : The Korea Forest Service has issued a “severe” stage of the National Crisis Alert for Forest Fires nationwide, and the Fire and Rescue Service has issued a fire response stage 3 in Uisung.