At least six people have died after a bus and truck accident started a fire in a tunnel outside Seoul, South Korea.
Quoting AFP, Thursday (29/12), local mass media broadcast a large fire and puffs of smoke rising from the tunnel in Gwacheon. Meanwhile, hundreds of firefighters were seen struggling to contain the fire.
The fire started when the bus and truck collided which caused a massive blaze inside the high-speed road tunnel at 13.50 local time.
After the fire was tamed, the firefighters then entered the tunnel to evacuate and look for other possible victims.
"We are conducting a search into the tunnel for additional possible casualties," an officer said.
In addition, he said at least 20 people were being treated for asphyxiation from smoke from fires in the tunnels.
Quoting from Yonhap, South Korean Interior Minister Lee Sang-min called on every officer to maximize resources to save victims.
"I urge the authorities to make their best efforts to save the lives of those who have not fled," he said.
The fatal accident comes just months after 150 people, mostly young women, were killed in a Halloween crowd in Seoul's Itaewon nightlife district.
South Korea's swift transformation from a war-torn and impoverished backwater into Asia's fourth-largest economy and thriving democracy is a source of great national pride.
But a series of preventable disasters - including the Itaewon, and the Sewol ferry sinking that killed more than 300 people in 2014 - have shaken public confidence in safety standards.