Seoul Flooding: Family dies in destructive flood

People walking through a flooded road in the South Korean capital, Seoul. (Source: Yonhap/EPA)

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What happened: The heavy rains that hit the Seoul metropolitan area from Monday to early Wednesday killed at least nine people and left six people missing, highlighting the plight of South Korea's urban poor as well as the country's housing crisis and growing inequality.

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• The deaths, which included a family who drowned after becoming trapped underground, have prompted the South Korean capital to prohibit people from living in "banjiha" homes, half on the ground and half on the basement. These homes were also shown in the movie "Parasite."

• The family of three died after water pressure prevented them from opening the door of their flooded home in Seoul's southern Gwanak district, killing a woman in her 40s with Down syndrome, her sister, and the sister's 13-year-old daughter.

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According to neighbors and emergency personnel, the water came down with a such force that the family was unable to open their only door.

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• The girl's mother pounded on the door and alerted assistance from her neighbors.

• The neighbors dialed the government's 119 emergency response hotline due to a large number of flood victims dialing in, most calls were declined.

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The problems it raised: For years, there has been growing pressure on the government to provide more affordable housing, improve living conditions in banjihas, or phase them out entirely, as officials promised following public outrage over President Yoon Suk Yeol's handling of the crisis.

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"In the future, in Seoul, basements, and semi-basements (banjihas) will not be allowed to be used for residential purposes"

- The Seoul city government

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