Seoul shantytown fire largely extinguished, Yonhap reports

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

The main fire was brought under control ‌after 7-1/2 hours, with one woman suffering a minor ‌leg injury, it added. Yonhap said people had evacuated to an emergency shelter.

The fire agency deployed 232 personnel and 70 vehicles ⁠to fight the ​blaze, which ⁠began at about 3:50 p.m. local time (0650 GMT) in a temporary ⁠structure, Yonhap said. Six helicopters were sent to stop it 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.