ID :
198316
Sun, 07/31/2011 - 11:53
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://oananews.org//node/198316
The shortlink copeid
Landslide victims in Seoul mull class action
SEOUL (Yonhap) - A group of Seoulites hit by a recent landslide said Sunday that they are moving to file a class-action lawsuit against city authorities to seek compensation for the damage which they claim was caused by a lack of precautionary measures.
Torrential rains sparked the mudslide at Mount Umyeon in a southern suburb of Seoul on Wednesday, which hit the lower stories of a high-rise apartment building and buried dozens of houses in hillside villages. A total of 18 residents were killed.
"Concerning the landslide, we plan to form a taskforce and take a legal action (against the municipal government)," said a representative for residents from the apartment building where three people were killed by the landslide.
"The Seocho District and the Seoul government are claiming that it was a natural disaster but we will work hard with experts to prove that it was a man-made one," he added.
The legal action is likely to be joined by residents of another hard-hit nearby village where four people lost their lives in the massive landslide. Those residents are also seeking to file a compensation suit against the municipal government.
The move come as residents in the affected area have been claiming that the flood and resulting landslide could have been avoided if officials had heeded their previous calls for more prevention efforts against water-caused disasters.
They argue that they had frequently lodged the request because of worries that their residential area is at risk for landslides.
Experts say that the main focus of the suit would be whether the Seocho District had taken sufficient preventive measures and also made appropriate efforts to minimize damage in the wake of the disaster.
In the meantime, the central government said earlier that it will designate the Seocho District as a "special disaster zone" if damages there exceed 9.5 billion won (US$9 million), a move that will allow residents to get state subsidies.
Also, the military said that it continued to search the area for land mines that might have been swept into the area by the landslide on Wednesday but has found nothing.
South Korea's military buried about 1,000 land mines near an air defense artillery unit on Mount Umyeon in the 1980s but almost all of them except about 10 mines were removed between 1999 and 2006.
The military said that "chances are low" that the land mines were swept into residential areas by the landslide, saying that they must have already been naturally destroyed by lightning or fires. But it promised to keep searching in the days to come in order to ensure the safety of residents in the area.
Torrential rains sparked the mudslide at Mount Umyeon in a southern suburb of Seoul on Wednesday, which hit the lower stories of a high-rise apartment building and buried dozens of houses in hillside villages. A total of 18 residents were killed.
"Concerning the landslide, we plan to form a taskforce and take a legal action (against the municipal government)," said a representative for residents from the apartment building where three people were killed by the landslide.
"The Seocho District and the Seoul government are claiming that it was a natural disaster but we will work hard with experts to prove that it was a man-made one," he added.
The legal action is likely to be joined by residents of another hard-hit nearby village where four people lost their lives in the massive landslide. Those residents are also seeking to file a compensation suit against the municipal government.
The move come as residents in the affected area have been claiming that the flood and resulting landslide could have been avoided if officials had heeded their previous calls for more prevention efforts against water-caused disasters.
They argue that they had frequently lodged the request because of worries that their residential area is at risk for landslides.
Experts say that the main focus of the suit would be whether the Seocho District had taken sufficient preventive measures and also made appropriate efforts to minimize damage in the wake of the disaster.
In the meantime, the central government said earlier that it will designate the Seocho District as a "special disaster zone" if damages there exceed 9.5 billion won (US$9 million), a move that will allow residents to get state subsidies.
Also, the military said that it continued to search the area for land mines that might have been swept into the area by the landslide on Wednesday but has found nothing.
South Korea's military buried about 1,000 land mines near an air defense artillery unit on Mount Umyeon in the 1980s but almost all of them except about 10 mines were removed between 1999 and 2006.
The military said that "chances are low" that the land mines were swept into residential areas by the landslide, saying that they must have already been naturally destroyed by lightning or fires. But it promised to keep searching in the days to come in order to ensure the safety of residents in the area.
