Two men suspected of starting deadly wildfires that spread across southeastern South Korea and claimed 33 lives in late March could be referred to prosecutors in early May at the earliest, North Gyeongsang Province police said Wednesday.
The suspects are currently not in physical detention, as a local court rejected the police’s request for arrest warrants last week. The court stated that investigators had already acquired enough evidence to prove the suspects’ involvement, and that the suspects do not present risks of flight or evidence tampering.
A police official noted, “We had planned to forward the case to the prosecution in late May if the arrest warrants had been granted, but we decided to expedite the process and submit the case earlier after completing additional paperwork.”
The two suspects are believed to have started fires in separate locations in Uiseong-gun, North Gyeongsang Province, on March 22. These fires grew to be the largest in South Korea, killing 28 people before spreading to nearby regions and burning roughly 90,000 hectares of land.
One suspect, now in his 50s, allegedly ignited a fire in Anpyeong-myeon, while burning a small tree to attend the grave of his grandparents. The second suspect, in his 60s, is accused of starting a fire later that same day in Angye-myeon, while burning waste from his orchard.
Both suspects are denying criminal charges for the massive wildfires. The younger suspect admitted to setting a twig on fire but claimed he put it out.
The older suspect claimed that he had burned the waste a day before the wildfire broke out.
minsikyoon@heraldcorp.com
