SEOUL
\nFive people have been killed and dozens injured after a bus and truck crash caused a huge fire at an expressway tunnel on the outskirts of Seoul, the local fire department told AFP.
\nImages of the scene in local media showed huge flames and plumes of smoke rising from the tunnel, as hundreds of firefighters battled to bring the blaze under control.
\nThe fire started when a bus collided with a truck at around 1:50 p.m. (0450 GMT) in the expressway tunnel in Gwacheon, an official at the Gwacheon fire department told AFP.
\nThe raised tunnel, which is designed to protect surrounding buildings from the noise of the road, was quickly engulfed in flames, images in local media showed.
\nFirefighters have brought the blaze under control, the official said.
\n\u201cWe are doing a search inside the tunnel in case of additional casualties,\u201d the official added.
\nAfter initially saying that six people had been killed, authorities have revised down the death toll to five, with 37 people injured. Some of the injured have suffered from burns, the official said.
\n\u201cThree have suffered burns on facial areas while the rest are being treated for smoke inhalation,\u201d he said.
\nInterior Minister Lee Sang-min called for \u201cmaximum resources deployed\u201d to save lives, the Yonhap News Agency reported.
\n\u201cI urge the authorities to put out the best efforts to save the lives of those who have not escaped,\u201d he said.
\nThe fatal accident comes just months after 150 people, mostly young women, were killed in a Halloween crowd crush in the Itaewon nightlife district.
\nSouth Korea\u2019s rapid transformation from a war-torn, impoverished backwater to Asia\u2019s fourth-largest economy and a flourishing democracy is a source of great national pride.
\nBut a series of preventable disasters \u2014 including Itaewon, and the Sewol ferry sinking which killed more than 300 people in 2014 \u2014 has shaken public confidence.
\nMany South Koreans have questioned whether safety standards were sidelined and regulations ignored in the rush for development, with the long toll of accidents leaving a legacy of bitterness and mistrust.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
SEOUL Five people have been killed and dozens injured after a bus and truck crash caused a huge fire at an expressway tunnel on the outskirts of Seoul, the local fire department told AFP. Images of the scene in local media showed huge flames and plumes of smoke rising from the tunnel, as hundreds of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":304370,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-304351","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n