(LEAD) 2 rescued, 7 dead from submerged parking garage in Pohang

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SEOUL, Sept. 7 (Yonhap) -- Nine people have been pulled from a flooded parking garage in the southeastern city of Pohang, two of them alive, with the seven others having died after being found in cardiac arrest, as the search continued for any remaining victims in the wake of Typhoon Hinnamnor.

All of them had been trapped in the underground parking lot at an apartment complex in Pohang, about 270 km southeast of Seoul, after going there to move their cars amid heavy downpours brought on by the typhoon.

Rescue workers searched the flooded garage and pulled the nine people out of the water.

The two survivors -- a 39-year-old man and a 52-year-old woman -- were rescued between 8:15 p.m. Tuesday and 2:15 a.m. Wednesday, they said. The survivors remain relatively healthy.

But the seven others were rescued in a state of cardiac arrest and pronounced dead later.

On Wednesday morning, rescuers are carrying out an operation to drain the parking garage to search for any remaining victims, but it is highly unlikely additional survivors will be discovered, they said.

Pohang was the hardest hit by the super strong typhoon that passed through the southern part of the country Tuesday morning, submerging roads and buildings and triggering landslides.

As of 6 a.m. Wednesday, a total of 10 people had died and two others had gone missing due to the typhoon, according to the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters. Three others were injured.

khj@yna.co.kr
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