3 construction workers dead, 37 injured in Sejong fire

By Lim Jeong-yeo

Published : June 26, 2018 - 15:57

- Link copied

A fire broke out in an underground parking garage of an apartment building under construction in central South Korea on Tuesday, leaving at least three dead and 37 others injured, officials said.

The blaze started at 1:16 p.m. at the Treeshade apartment construction site in the central administrative city of Sejong, sending flames and black smoke rising into the sky. Construction firm officials estimated the number of workers at the site at the time at 169.

About 40 fire trucks and 115 firefighters battled the blaze.

Witnesses said the fire started in the building's underground parking garage.

Fire officials said that epoxy coating and painting work was done in the underground level earlier in the day, and a lot of flammable materials were inside the building.

A multiplex apartment construction site in Saerom-dong, Sejong City, is engulfed in fumes on Tuesday (Yonhap)

Fire departments from the adjacent cities joined forces to tackle the fire (Yonhap)

Construction workers are being rescued. (Yonhap)

Workers wait for rescue in a fired Sejong building under construction. (Yonhap)

As the building is still under construction, there are no proper firefighting devices installed within its walls. A fire department personnel told the media that the building is filled with intense heat.

The authorities have gained information that the sound of an explosion was heard at an underground parking lot and there were subsequent sightings of smoke rising. Further investigation is needed to reveal what triggered the fire.

A person who witnessed the start of the fire said that there had been “an ear-splitting explosion followed by pillars of red flames like that of the Hawaii volcano eruption.”

Aerial firefighting at the high-rise building construction site. (Yonhap)

Rescued construction workers are singed. (Yonhap)

Despite the heavy rain that pummeled down nationwide, huge plumes of smoke engulfed the site around 1:15 p.m. Daejeon’s fire rescue authorities dispatched an aerial firefighting force to the scene. As of 2:30 p.m., most of the major flames had been put out, but the spread has continued, as of 3:40 p.m.

Fire departments from the adjacent cities Daejeon, Gongju, Cheongju and elsewhere joined forces to tackle the fire, with 40 firetrucks and 115 firefighters involved in the rescue work.

Firefighters are reportedly entering every floor and room to find people who are trapped.

The multiplex apartment was anticipating residents by December.

By Lim Jeong-yeo and news reports (kaylalim@heraldcorp.com)

3 construction workers dead, 37 injured in Sejong fire

More from Headlines