Fire breaks out in shantytown in Seoul's Gangnam district

A fire ‌broke out ​on Tuesday in Guryong village, a shantytown in Seoul's upmarket Gangnam district, ‌affecting 77 households and 107 people, South Korea's Yonhap news agency said.

No injuries or casualties had been reported, ‌a fire official told Reuters, and Yonhap said people ‌had evacuated to an emergency shelter. The fire agency has deployed 232 personnel and 70 vehicles to fight the fire, which ⁠began ​at about ⁠3:50 p.m. local time (0650 GMT) in a temporary structure, Yonhap ⁠said. Six helicopters were sent to stop the fire spreading ​to a nearby mountain.

Guryong, often described as Seoul's ⁠largest remaining shantytown, emerged in the 1970s and 1980s when families displaced ⁠by ​public works projects settled on the edge of Gangnam without permits. Its densely packed homes ⁠are built with flammable materials such as vinyl sheets and ⁠plywood. A major ⁠fire in the village in January forced hundreds of residents to evacuate.