According to authorities, at least seven people have died from a fire that started in the basement of a mall in the South Korean city of Daejeon.
South Korea’s SEOUL At least seven people were killed in a fire that started in a shopping mall’s basement on Monday in Daejeon, South Korea, according to officials.
Go Seung-Cheol, a representative of the Daejeon Fire Headquarters, stated that after putting out the fire, firefighters were still looking for survivors. He claimed that some areas of the structure were still filled with smoke and that it wasn’t immediately evident if there were any other persons missing.
More than 110 people were evacuated, including mall employees and guests at a nearby hotel, after the fire broke out at around 7:45 a.m. and quickly spread across the loading dock area of the basement. The damage might have been worse, according to officials, if the fire had started during the mall’s regular business hours.
The fire was put out at around 3 p.m. after more than 500 firefighters, and 90 vehicles were sent to battle it. As firefighters used water hoses and other tools to put out the fire, images from the scene showed a cloud of dark-grey smoke billowing from beneath the structure.
According to Yuseong fire official Lee Seung-Han, six of the fatalities were mall personnel, and the identity of the seventh victim was still being sought. Regarding the manner of death, Lee and Go did not immediately comment.
Police and fire personnel were looking into what started the fire. The fire may have been created by an explosion of an electric vehicle that was being charged in the basement, according to eyewitness claims cited by the local media.
