WALL COLLAPSE AT BUILDING SITE

[Anchor Lead]

The outer wall of an apartment building under construction in Gwangju collapsed on Tuesday. The debris hit nearby stores and buried several parked cars.

[Pkg]

The outer wall of a 38-story apartment building under construction suddenly collapsed. The central part fell off first, followed by the upper part. It happened at 3:50 p.m. Tuesday at a construction site in the southern city of Gwangju. Debris from more than half of the concrete wall fell on nearby stores and roads, throwing the area into chaos.

[Soundbite] Lee Kyung-yeon(Local vendor) : "All of a sudden there were debris and dust flying around with a loud noise. The lights in my store went off. And I saw that the structure had collapsed."

High-voltage power lines were cut off during the accident, causing blackouts in the area. More than 200 firefighters and 40 pieces of rescue equipment were deployed immediately. Two people trapped in a container were rescued. So far three people are known to have sustained injuries. But more people could still be trapped inside. However, a search operation will only be possible after a safety inspection is conducted due to the risk of an additional collapse.

[Soundbite] Cho Ho-ik(Gwangju Seobu Fire Station) : "Cranes could also collapse. We will be able to evacuate residents or dispatch our staff only after a safety inspection."

A taskforce has been set up to assess the scope of damage and the cause of the accident. Local authorities have also issued an evacuation order for local residents.