Four workers have been killed and six more are in hospital after a highway under construction collapsed.
There were 10 people working at the construction site near the city of Cheonan in South Korea at around 10am local time on Tuesday when elevated parts of the highway collapsed.
The workers fell and were trapped in the rubble, with emergency services having to dig them out.
Dramatic footage showed a section of the bridge collapsing, sending a large cloud of dust and smoke into the air.
Dashcam from a car driving away from the area showed two sections of the road bridge collapsing, as workers used cranes to attach horizontal concrete sections to upright piers.
Ko Kyung-man, a fire service official in Anseong, explained: ‘They were working to install a deck on the bridge.
‘All of the ten were up on the deck… and fell from both sides when it collapsed.’
Acting president Choi Sang-mok ordered all available rescue personnel and equipment to try and free the crushed workers.
Almost 150 firefighters and three helicopters were sent to the scene.
One man was found dead straight away, with eight more found injured and rushed to hospital, where two of the workers have since been declared dead.
The 10th worker, who was missing for hours, was eventually found dead under the rubble.
The cause of the collapse, about 40miles (65km) south of the capital Seoul, is still not known.
Hyundai Engineering, the company responsible for the site, has apologised and promised to cooperate with any investigation into the collapse.
A spokesperson told The Times: ‘We sincerely bow our heads in apology to those who lost their precious lives and were injured in the accident at our construction site.
‘We are actively co-operating with the relevant authorities to ensure a prompt resolution on-site.’
South Korea has a poor safety record for industrial accidents, which saw more than 8,000 work-related deaths between 2020-2023.
Almost 600 workers died in 2023, according to official figures, and half of those were working in construction.
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