‘I’ve never seen anything like this’: Survivors recount deadly landslide after historic rainfall

GEOJE, South Gyeongsang — First came a rumble, then it all came crashing down.

“When I opened my eyes, I was trapped under the debris,” Cheon, a man in his 50s, told the JoongAng Ilbo on Monday as he recalled what he experienced when a landslide tore into his apartment in Okpo-dong.

Cheon survived a deadly landslide that came after more than 500 millimeters (19.7 inches) of rain fell over six hours in the southeastern island of Geoje on Monday morning. The intense downpour caused a landslide on a nearby hillside that slammed into the apartment complex, killing one person and injuring two others — including Cheon.

A man in his 20s who lived alone on the first floor of Building No. 104 was buried by earth and debris that surged into his home. He was taken to a hospital but was pronounced dead. The man was identified as a worker at Samsung Heavy Industries’ shipyard.

Cheon and his family, who lived on the first floor of the same building as the victim, narrowly escaped with their lives. Cheon also works at a major shipyard in Geoje.

“The earth and debris came in through the balcony and swept through the living room, kitchen and master bedroom and pushed furniture and other belongings all the way out of the apartment,” Cheon, who had been sleeping in the living room at the time, said.

“My wife and I were sleeping there, and I think we survived because a bookcase knocked over by the debris ended up propped above us, which kept the dirt from covering our faces.”

“Our daughter, who had been sleeping in the master bedroom, escaped through a broken window and shouted to the neighbors, ‘Please help us,’” Cheon said. “The neighbors came and rescued my wife and me.”

Cheon suffered scrapes across his face, arms and legs, while his wife broke her left arm, but neither suffered life-threatening injuries. Their daughter, who was not seriously injured, was staying with relatives, he said.

Around 4:32 a.m., when the landslide struck, desperate cries of “Help me!” could be heard throughout the apartment complex, residents said.

Park Jong-gi, a 78-year-old second-floor resident of Building No. 104, also made a narrow escape.

“I carefully pushed aside the dirt that had forced its way into my home and barely managed to get out,” Park said. “The dirt came through the balconies of both the victim’s home and Cheon’s family’s home and blasted through windows on the other side. It swept everything inside away. I’ve lived in this apartment complex for more than 30 years, and I’ve never seen anything like this. Residents came out with shovels, dug through the dirt and rescued people.”

Behind the apartment complex were rockfall-prevention railings and a retaining wall designed to withstand pressure from the cut slope. But both were damaged by the mass of earth unleashed by the landslide. Mud and debris then poured through passageways between the buildings. It left eight households on the first and second floors with the heaviest damage.

At Building No. 103, next to Building No. 104, heavy machinery was being used to clear piles of earth and vehicles that had been swept in and blocked the entrance.

“The dirt and a car swept along with it blocked the entrance to our building,” Hong, a resident who lives on the first floor of Building No. 103, said. “We couldn’t evacuate for some time before firefighters rescued us.”

A total of 150 residents from 70 households in the apartment complex took shelter in a nearby middle school.

“At around 4 a.m., I felt the building shake from the landslide,” Hwang, a resident of the 14th floor of Building No. 104, said at the shelter. “I grabbed only my wallet and phone and rushed out with my wife and our two elementary school-age children.”

BY AN DAE-HUN, KIM MIN-JU [lee.soojung1@joongang.co.kr]