HDC Hyundai Development raided in connection with Gwangju apartment building collapse
SEOUL, Jan. 19 (Yonhap) -- Investigators on Wednesday raided the headquarters of HDC Hyundai Development Co. in connection with a recent accident at its construction site in Gwangju that left one worker dead and five others missing.
Officials from the Ministry of Employment and Labor and the National Police Agency conducted a joint raid of the real estate developer's headquarters in central Seoul to search for evidence in connection with the accident that occurred on Jan. 11.
Search operations have continued for a week after the facade on a 39-story apartment building under construction crumbled to the ground in Gwangju, about 330 kilometers southwest of Seoul.
Five construction workers remain unaccounted for, with one worker found dead under the rubble Friday.
On Monday, Chung Mong-gyu, chairman of HDC Hyundai Development, offered to step down to take responsibility for the accident. Chung said he will consider terminating the contracts for the buyers, and completely demolishing and reconstructing the apartment buildings from the start if the safety inspection finds there was a problem.

Rescuers comb through debris on Jan. 13, 2022, looking for missing workers from a deadly apartment construction accident in the southern city of Gwangju. (Yonhap)
pbr@yna.co.kr
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