A total of 85 fire trucks were sent to the scene, but officials could not send a helicopter due to haze and fine dust shrouding the city.
Nearly 300 South Korean firefighters were battling a major fire on Friday in a deprived area of the upmarket Gangnam district of southern Seoul, a fire official said. No casualties have been reported, but 47 residents of Guryong Village were evacuated, an official at the Seoul Metropolitan Fire & Disaster Headquarters said by telephone. About 110 people were living in the affected area, Yonhap News reported, citing fire officials.
The blaze broke out at about 5.10 a.m. (2010 GMT on Thursday) and authorities later raised the fire alert to the second-highest level, with firefighters concerned it might spread to a nearby mountain, the fire official said.
