Five people were killed and dozens more injured after a collision between a bus and truck sparked a huge fire in a highway tunnel on the outskirts of Seoul, local firefighters told AFP.
Footage of the scene released by South Korean media shows huge flames and plumes of smoke billowing from the tunnel as hundreds of firefighters struggle to control the blaze.
The fire broke out when a bus collided with a truck at around 1:50 p.m. (0450 GMT) in the Gwacheon Expressway Tunnel, an official with the city’s fire department told AFP.
The elevated tunnel, designed to protect surrounding buildings from traffic noise, quickly burst into flames, but firefighters managed to control the blaze, the official said.
“We’re conducting searches in the tunnel in case there are other victims,” he added.
After initially saying six people were killed, authorities have reduced the death toll to five, with 37 injured.
“Three of them suffered facial burns while the others are being treated after smoke inhalation,” the official said.
Interior Minister Lee Sang-min called for the “use of maximum resources” to save lives, Yonhap News Agency reported.
“I urge the authorities to make every effort to save the lives of those who were unable to escape,” he said.
The deadly accident came just two months after 156 people, mostly young people, were killed by a mob during the Halloween party in cosmopolitan Itaewon district.
South Korea’s rapid transformation from a poor, war-ravaged country into Asia’s fourth-largest economy and a thriving democracy is a source of great national pride.
Still, a series of avoidable disasters, including the Itaewon mob and the sinking of the Sewol ferry in 2014 that killed more than 300 people, have shaken public confidence.
Many South Koreans wonder if safety standards and regulations have been ignored in the race to development, as the long list of accidents leaves a sense of resentment and distrust.