Photo : YONHAP News
The Seoul city government says no traffic restrictions were put in place for roads or railroads near the overpass that collapsed in Seoul’s Seodaemun District on Tuesday, even after structural weakness was detected some 12 hours earlier.
Lim Choon-keun, the head of the city government’s infrastructure bureau, held a briefing on Wednesday to provide details about the disaster and about the city’s future plans for demolishing the overpass.
According to the Seoul government, girder deflection was spotted at 2:30 a.m. Tuesday at the overpass demolition site, prompting workers to conduct construction work to prevent further sagging.
The construction company charged with the demolition work was found to have briefed the city government about the problem at around 7:30 a.m. via phone.
Following an on-site inspection at 10:50 a.m., the head of the supervisory team informed the Seoul Metropolitan Government that an emergency safety inspection was necessary.
A joint inspection then was launched at around 1:40 p.m. and about an hour later, a section of the overpass collapsed, killing three people and injuring three others.
On why pedestrian and train traffic under the overpass was allowed to continue for those 12 hours, Lim said the safety inspection was launched promptly to determine whether such restrictions were necessary.