A fire on Friday in one of Seoul's last-remaining shanty towns burned makeshift houses and forced dozens of residents to flee, but no casualties were immediately reported. Located near the upscale Gangnam district, the tightly packed settlement was vulnerable to fires due to its combustible structures. (PICS/AFP/PTI)
Updated On: 2026-01-16 02:23 PM IST
Compiled by : Tarun Verma
With smoke billowing over makeshift homes emergency crews work for over six and a half hours to bring a major fire under control, forcing residents to flee their homes. (PIC/PTI)
More than 1,200 firefighters and police officers were deployed to the scene as flames tore through the combustible, closely built homes of Seoul’s last-remaining shanty towns
Fire personnel search through the charred remains of houses in Guryong village to check for possible victims following the blaze that displaced hundreds of residents
The village was formed in the 1980s as a settlement for hundreds and thousands of people who were evicted from their original neighbourhoods under massive house clearings, city beautification for foreign visitors and redevelopment projects ahead of the 1988 Seoul Olympic Games
The hillside village has occasionally had fires over the years, a vulnerability that observers say is linked to its tightly packed homes built with materials that easily burn
Over 250 residents were evacuated after the fire destroyed sections of the impoverished settlement located beside some of Seoul’s most expensive neighbourhoods showing stark income inequality
