Residents flee as fire devastates Seoul shanty town

A massive blaze has swept through a shanty town on the outskirts of the South Korean capital, Seoul, destroying homes and sending residents fleeing.

Nearly 300 firefighters fought the fire on Friday as it threatened Guryong, an impoverished area of the affluent Gangnam district in southern Seoul. No injuries or deaths have been reported thus far.

Firefighters managed to contain the blaze about six hours after it started, according to officials.

Local fire officer Jeong Gwang-hun told reporters during a televised briefing that emergency teams were conducting thorough searches of all damaged buildings for possible victims.

More than 1,200 personnel, including firefighters and police officers, responded to the crisis, Jeong said, adding that the cause of the fire remained under investigation.

The hillside community has suffered recurrent fires over the years, a risk experts link to its crowded dwellings constructed with highly combustible materials.

Guryong stands in stark contrast to neighbouring areas of Seoul, which feature towering luxury apartments and high-end shopping centres, highlighting South Korea’s extreme wealth inequality.

The settlement formed in the 1980s as a haven for those displaced during sweeping urban development programmes.

During this time, hundreds of thousands of Seoul residents were forced from slums and poor neighbourhoods, a process the military-backed government considered necessary to enhance the city’s appearance before visitors arrived for the 1988 Olympic Games.