Seongnam's two-story house collapsed..."Evacuate the area 10 minutes before it falls".

[Anchor]
This afternoon, a two-story house collapsed in Sinheung-dong, Seongnam-si, Gyeonggi-do.

It has been confirmed that there were no people in the building, but the residents living around them were only evacuated 10 minutes before the collapse.

I'll connect with a reporter to find out more about the accident.

Reporter Jung Hyun-woo, how did the accident happen?

[Reporter]
Yes. Let's look at the report video that came into YTN.

There is a control line in a narrow alley, and 119 ambulances are here in case you don't know.

But suddenly, the residential building inside the control line begins to collapse.

It's a two-story building, and it's completely turned off to the floor, and there's a huge roar.

Let's listen to the on-site sound at that time.

I can hear a loud noise that makes the whole area ring.

People around me sigh.

Looking back at the situation just before it collapsed, the building was already cracked and about to collapse, and soon after, the building with the outer wall covered with bricks fell down.

The two-story building completely went out to the floor and sank to about the height of the surrounding one-story building.

It looks like it's falling apart like brushing against the next building, but it has also been found that the roof of other houses nearby has also been damaged.

It was around 3 p.m. today (29th) that a two-story building collapsed in Sinheung-dong, Seongnam, Gyeonggi-do.

It has been confirmed that two people lived in this building, but it is understood that there are no casualties because they were out.

Let's hear from a resident who witnessed the situation at the time of the collapse.

[Nearby merchant: Don't you see smoke coming up when the building collapses? That's how the smoke came up. At the same time, people were surprised and instantly collapsed. Fortunately, the police line was pre-installed, so it's a relief that the road will collapse in the future, and if it collapsed on the side, the buildings would have been dangerous.]

[Anchor]
Yes, there were also signs before the house collapsed?

[Reporter]
Yes, if you look at the ambulance in a narrow alley where the control line is already in place, you can see that there have been signs of collapse before.

About 40 minutes before the building collapsed nearby, the fire department was reported.

It is reported that a resident who was passing by reported that he thought it was strange to hear a strange sound from the house.

Let's hear from the merchants around us.

[Nearby merchant: The equipment manufacturer (who was passing by) heard the noise and reported it...Fortunately, it collapsed by the road, so fortunately, there were no casualties.]

At that time, there were seven residents living in nearby houses, but all the firefighters who arrived at the scene hurriedly evacuated them.

The evacuation ended only about 10 minutes before the building collapsed, and it is a dizzying situation that almost caused casualties in nearby buildings.

As the area is dangerous, nearby residents have moved to nearby welfare centers.

Seongnam City is considering whether to support them after seeing them as victims.

[Anchor]
Yes, why on earth did the building collapse?

[Reporter]
Yes, the year of the building is old and it seems to be due to the recent heavy snow.

The area where the houses are located is a planned redevelopment site.

In particular, the house was more than 50 years old, which was completed in 1976.

The fire department estimates that the wall collapsed due to the aging of the building.

[Choi Chul-woong / Seongnam Fire Station Fire Prevention Response Division: It has been confirmed that it is believed to have collapsed due to aging exterior walls at the front of the building during the safety diagnosis evaluation]

However, as heavy snow fell in the southern part of Gyeonggi Province for two days yesterday and the day before yesterday, some residents said that the old building seemed to have collapsed because it could not bear the weight of the snow.

[Nearby merchant: It snowed a lot for almost two days this time, so other houses had some problems. There's something that's falling apart.... The shade was falling down..]

Even city hall safety diagnosis staff were dispatched to the scene, and police and fire fighting will investigate the exact cause of the collapse.

At the site, demolition work on the building will begin at 8 p.m.

In addition, residents in the neighborhood are staying at the community center without returning home due to fears of further collapse.

So far, the Ministry of Social Affairs has informed you.