Three people have been killed and three others injured in the South Korean capital, Seoul, after a decades-old overpass undergoing demolition partially collapsed on Tuesday, officials confirmed.
The accident occurred at 2:32 p.m. local time when sections of the Seosomun overpass, situated in western Seoul, gave way during a safety inspection while demolition work was in progress.
Television footage depicted emergency workers conducting search-and-rescue operations as a lengthy portion of the structure lay crumpled on the street below, adjacent to a railway crossing in central Seoul.
Two men, aged in their 50s and 60s, were killed at the scene, while another injured victim was later pronounced dead in hospital.
Demolition work had been temporarily halted after workers observed that part of the structure had slightly subsided while concrete slabs were being cut, according to Lee Jong-woon, an official at Seoul's Seodaemun District Fire Station.
The victims were crushed by debris and wreckage when a segment of the bridge deck suddenly collapsed, officials reported.
All those killed and injured were senior city public works officials and a private-sector expert who were conducting the inspection, a fire official stated.
Police and emergency services cordoned off traffic around the site, where twisted steel beams and shattered concrete slabs hung precariously from the edge of the overpass.
Some debris also fell onto a nearby railway line, prompting Korea Railroad Corp to suspend some services to Seoul Station.
Built in 1966, the overpass had been undergoing demolition since August of the previous year due to safety concerns.
