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| Firefighters and forensic investigators examine an eight-story building, which was destroyed by a massive fire Thursday, in Jecheon, North Chungcheong Province, Friday. The investigators suspect an electrical spark from a plumbing malfunction started the fire on the first floor and spread to more than a dozen parked vehicles. Korea Times photo by Ryu Hyo-jin |
By You Soo-sun
Firefighters and forensics experts are suspecting an electrical spark from a plumbing malfunction started the fire, spreading to more than a dozen parked vehicles at the first floor parking lot of a sports center in Jecheon, Chungcheong Province, Thursday.
Police, along with the national fire agency and forensic service, began an inspection early Friday morning to look into the exact causes of the fire that quickly set ablaze the eight-floor building, leaving 29 dead and 20 injured.
"We plan to look into the exact cause of the fire by thoroughly conducting on-site inspection and reviewing witness testimonies and video footage of the incident," an official from the team was quoted as saying. "We will also question the building owner and manager to see if they had illegally changed the purpose of the building."
They also seek to find out why the blaze had spread so quickly; it reportedly took only seven minutes until it engulfed the entire building which housed a sauna, a gym, and several restaurants.
Experts suspect the prime reason for the spread was the material used for the outer wall of the building called "dryvit," a cheap but a highly flammable finishing material. It is also known to further the damage of a fire as it releases a lot of toxic gases into the atmosphere.
Also problematic was the structure of the building, which was raised above ground on pillars.
This type of structure is susceptible to fires that start on the ground floor as staircases act like smokestacks, causing flames to spread upwards.
Witnesses also pointed to insufficient emergency exits and illegally parked cars that caused a delay in putting out the fire by blocking fire trucks' access to the building.
The incident is invoking comparisons with a fire which erupted three years ago at an apartment in Uijeongbu, Gyeonggi Province. The building also contained the flammable material and was constructed in a similar style.
Police will also look into whether the building was properly managed, including the maintenance of sprinklers and other fire prevention facilities. Some reportedly testified that the exit door of the sauna, located on the second and third floors, had been broken. Twenty of the 29 people who died were using the facility when the fire erupted.
The fire, which erupted at 3:53 p.m., Thursday, was the deadliest fire since 2008 when 40 people died at a refrigerated warehouse in the northwestern city of Incheon.
President Moon Jae-in visited the scene to offer his condolences to victims and their families.
