Four workers killed, six injured in South Korean bridge collapse

Four people died and six others were injured when a bridge under construction collapsed near Anseong in South Korea.

Rescue personnel search for missing workers after a bridge collapsed at an expressway construction site in Anseong, South Korea on Tuesday. Picture: Yonhap/AFP

Four people fell to their deaths and six others were injured when a bridge under construction collapsed in South Korea.

Video recorded by a car driving away from the scene near the city of Anseong, about 64km south of Seoul, shows two sections of the road bridge collapsing as the construction workers were using cranes to attach horizontal concrete sections to the upright piers.

“They were working to install a deck on the bridge,” Ko Kyung-man, a fire service official in Anseong, said.

“All of the 10 were up on the deck … and fell from both sides when it collapsed.”

The dead included two Chinese citizens.

The bridge collapsed at an expressway construction site in Anseong. Picture: Yonhap/AFP

Almost 150 firefighters, supported by three helicopters, were deployed to dig through the rubble to retrieve victims of the collapse, which occurred yesterday (Tuesday) morning.

The company responsible for the site, Hyundai Engineering, has apologised and promised to co-operate with the authorities investigating the causes of the tragedy.

“We sincerely bow our heads in apology to those who lost their precious lives and were injured in the accident at our construction site,” it said in a statement.

“We are actively co-operating with the relevant authorities to ensure a prompt resolution onsite.”

About 600 workers in South Korea died in industrial accidents in 2023, according to official figures.

Hyundai is dealing with a scandal from last year in which about 50,000 defects, including bent steel beams and bulging walls, were found in blocks of flats in the southern county of Muan.

The Times