Firefighters fight a fire on a highway in Gwacheon, South Korea, Dec. 29, 2022. (Kim Jong-taik/Newsis via AP)
SEOUL, South Korea—At least five people were killed and 37 injured on Thursday after a freight truck collided with a bus on a highway near the South Korean capital Seoul, causing a fire, officials said.
It was not immediately clear what caused the collision and fire, or what cargo the truck was carrying.
The fire department said in a statement that three of the injured were seriously injured and 34 had minor injuries. Fire officials said the crash occurred inside a soundproof tunnel on the highway.
Earlier television footage showed a thick black plume of smoke billowing from the tunnel, but fire officials later said they had nearly extinguished the blaze.
The fire department’s public affairs office was unable to immediately confirm where the five fatalities came from.
