Busan fire caused by explosion

The police yesterday concluded that the Busan shooting range fire, which killed 11 and injured two so far, was caused by an explosion, said officials.

The inflammable substance which caused the explosion has not yet been identified and police are considering all possible scenarios.

The possibility of arson being the cause is relatively low.

Leftover gunpowder or gun gas may have been the reason.

"We are going over the CCTV records to check whether gunpowder was properly removed from the floor on a regular basis," said Kim Young-sik, head of the investigation department.

The caretaker of the shooting range stated to the police that the vacuum cleaner, used to remove gunpowder, was kept near the spot where police presumed was the ignition source.



Gunpowder, though kept in a vacuum cleaner, may cause an explosion when a sufficient amount of it comes in contact with a spark or fire, experts pointed out.

While extinguishing the fire, one of the fire officers said that he smelled petroleum, suggesting the possibility of excessive gun gas which came into contact with a cigarette.

The Japanese tourists who made frequent visits to the range were often spotted smoking and chatting nearby the shooting area, according to employees.

Though the police focus on an accidental explosion, some still suspect arson, especially as a man appeared on the CCTV footage carrying an unidentified paper bag.

Amid the ongoing investigation, the number of the deceased victims rose from 10 to 11 early yesterday as a Korean woman, one of the three injured victims, failed to survive her burns, according to the hospital staff.

A five-story building in a Busan marketplace was engulfed in a sudden blaze following a loud blast at around 1:26 p.m. on Saturday, according to witnesses. On the second floor was an indoor shooting range, a tourist spot which had recently become very popular among Japanese visitors.

The 10 initial victims died on the scene from smoke inhalation and burns while six more, three of them Japanese, were injured and taken to nearby hospitals.

The tourists had come from the Japanese town of Nagasaki to the port city earlier that day for a two-day school reunion trip.

The bodies of the seven deceased Japanese, all identified by the National Institute of Scientific Investigation through DNA and dental testing, are to be taken back home this afternoon, said officials.



(tellme@heraldm.com)







By Bae Hyun-jung