At the site of the collapse of a new apartment building in Gwangju, a lifesaving dog again found an additional buried person.
Sobaek, a 9-year-old male Labrador Retriever, a veteran with 7 years of rescue experience, first discovered on the 14th, a 3-year-old male German Shepherd male 'Hangyeol' and one of the six missing on the first basement floor of the collapsed building.
Today (26th), according to the Fire Department, etc., Minkyun Lee Min-kyun and handler Kim Seong-hwan of the Central 119 Rescue Headquarters searched the inside of the 27th floor of the collapsed building with Sobaek yesterday.
We entered the 27th floor at around 4:03 PM, but the search was not easy as the gray bricks were crumbling from the entrance.
Handler Kim had searched the room on the opposite side of the 27th floor with Sobaek the other day before, but he was afraid that it would collapse any moment, so he left a mark on the place where Sobaek showed a weak reaction, such as repeatedly hovering around or sniffing.
He also approached the room next to the previously searched room for the first time.
When the wall collapsed and it was difficult to crawle through the messed up space and enter the inside, Sobaek began to bark loudly towards the plaster wall.
Inside the plaster wall is the main space of the apartment, the entrance was blocked by the collapse.
At that time, the 27th floor had an open space above and below due to the collapse, but when Sobaek barked loudly and scratched in front of the plaster wall on the 27th floor rather than the 28th floor, the training center and Kim handler decided to try through the plaster wall.
The crew drilled a small hole with a climbing pickle and entered the room, but the concrete slab was collapsing layer by layer.
Here, Sobaek barked again and showed a reaction to dig the ground.
The two operators used a pickel to clear the surrounding debris and found bloodstains on the inside.
A piece of work clothes was also visible above the bloodstained top.
The training officer and Kim Handler reported the situation to the commander at around 5:30 pm, and other rescuers searched the same area with endoscopic cameras and reconfirmed the traces of the buried person at around 6:40 pm.
Handler Kim Seong-hwan (33) said, "The first day I went to the 27th floor, there were a lot of risk factors, so I couldn't break through or go over it. I decided to check the inside even if it was destroyed,” he explained.
He said, "It was the first room I entered, and the wall was curved due to the load, so I thought I had to get out quickly, but I couldn't get out because the missing person was inside and I was sorry to find it too late."
Handler Kim said, "Last time Sobaek injured a ligament in his knee, but I and Sobaek are trying to find him as safely as possible, such as tying a rope in dangerous sections."
(Photo = provided by the Fire Department, Yonhap News)