Ten bodies have been recovered and four workers remain missing after a blaze tore through auto-parts maker Anjeon Industrial’s factory in Daejeon, fire authorities said.
The Central Emergency Rescue Control Unit said it had recovered 10 bodies as of 3 a.m. on Saturday. The first victim was found at about 11:03 p.m. on Friday near the entrance to a second-floor break room; nine more bodies were located around 12:19 a.m. in an area believed to be a third-floor gym.
The remains are being identified through DNA and fingerprint analysis.
The fire started at 1:17 p.m. on Friday.
With fears of heavy casualties, the National Fire Mobilization Order, an emergency directive that allows South Korean authorities to deploy firefighting personnel and equipment from across the country beyond local jurisdictions to respond to a major disaster, was issued at 1:53 p.m.
Crews deployed about 90 vehicles, some 200 personnel and a Korea Forest Service helicopter and declared the blaze fully extinguished at around 11:48 p.m., roughly 10 hours after it began.
Of roughly 170 employees on site, 14 were initially unaccounted for and 156 evacuated or were rescued. Fifty-nine workers were injured. With 10 deaths confirmed, total casualties stand at 69.
Fire officials said heat deformation of the steel structure and a complex interior made operations hazardous.
Two four-person teams were assigned to the second and third floors, while ladder and articulating trucks were used to access sections that were unsafe to enter directly. Advanced search equipment and 119 search dogs are being used to locate the remaining four missing workers.
“Conditions at the scene remain very unstable and dangerous, but we are determined not to leave a single person behind,” Kim Seung-ryong, vice chief of the National Fire Agency, said, adding that teams will continue efforts until the missing are returned to their families.
Authorities have yet to determine the cause or exact origin of the fire and plan a full investigation and damage assessment once conditions are fully stabilized.
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