A bridge under construction on the Seoul-Sejong Expressway collapsed Feb. 25, killing four workers and injuring six others, including five seriously, authorities said.
The collapse occurred around 9:49 a.m. at a construction site in Sanpyeong-ri, Seoun-myeon, Anseong, Gyeonggi Province, near Dorim-ri, Ipjang-myeon, Seobuk-gu, Cheonan, South Chungcheong Province. Ten workers—seven South Koreans and three Chinese nationals—fell from the bridge and were buried under the debris, according to fire officials.
The South Chungcheong Disaster and Safety Management Office said a 119 emergency call reporting the collapse was received at 9:50 a.m. The accident happened on the Cheongnyongcheon Bridge, part of the Cheonan-Anseong section of the Seoul-Sejong Expressway toward Pocheon.
Authorities said the collapse occurred while workers were connecting bridge decks using a crane. Several deck segments gave way, causing the structure to collapse. The bridge piers vary in height, with the tallest reaching 52 meters. The collapsed section spanned approximately 210 meters, officials said.
“The exact term for the task is ‘beam installation,’ and the accident happened while placing the bridge deck on the piers,” a fire official said.
Firefighters arrived within 10 minutes and issued a Level 2 emergency response at 10:03 a.m. The National Fire Agency declared a nationwide fire mobilization order at 10:15 a.m., deploying firefighting resources from across the country.
Authorities downgraded the emergency response to Level 1 by 11:40 a.m. and fully lifted it at 2:31 p.m. after completing the search for victims. The National Fire Agency dispatched 147 personnel, 48 pieces of equipment, and five rescue dogs from Gyeonggi and North Chungcheong provinces, along with the 119 Special Rescue Team and the 119 Chemical Rescue Center.
Lim Dong-seop, 69, who lives about 200 meters from the site, said, “I was driving my mother to the senior center when I heard a loud ‘boom’ around 9:40 a.m.”
The 134-kilometer Seoul-Sejong Expressway has two sections: the 72-kilometer metropolitan stretch from Anseong to Guri, which opened Jan. 1, and the 62-kilometer Sejong-Anseong section, scheduled for completion next year.
