No casualties occurred, officials say
A small fire occurred Monday in an empty classroom at a high school, with preliminary investigation suggesting a portable power bank as the likely cause.
According to the Gyeonggi-do Fire and Disaster Headquarters, the incident occurred at around 9:18 a.m. at a school in Anseong, Gyeonggi Province. The fire started in a classroom locker, and is thought to have been sparked by a portable power bank stored inside the locker.
The locker had contained 20 mobile phones and the power bank, all of which were destroyed in the fire.
No casualties occurred, as all the students had vacated the classroom at the time.
Multiple cases of fires sparked by mobile phone batteries and power banks have been recorded in South Korea recently. On Jan. 28, a fire occurred inside an Air Busan plane about to take off from Gimhae International Airport, causing 27 injuries and crucial damages on the plane.
The official probe pinpointed a battery pack inside an overhead bin as the likely cause of the fire. The incident triggered stricter regulations on packing portable power banks when boarding an airplane.
Lithium-ion batteries used on mobile phones and power banks are generally safe, but extreme heat or physical damage can lead to them catching fire. According to National Fire Agency data from September, 296 fires in the first half of year were caused by batteries in mobile phones or electric scooters.
minsikyoon@heraldcorp.com
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