STORY: :: A search for the missing is underway after a deadly fire at a South Korean battery plant
:: June 24, 2024
:: Hwaseong, South Korea
:: Kim Jin-young, Fire station official
:: “There are seven male workers, 15 female workers and one unidentified worker are missing. Among them, there are 20 workers with foreign nationalities, two South Koreans and one unidentified. Rescue workers entered the building and began search operation.”
:: “(Among the missing workers), there are Chinese nationals and other foreign nationals. Like I said before, about 20 workers are foreign nationals, but the list of them was burned, so it will take more time to check their exact nationalities.”
A fire official said 16 people died in the blaze. The Yonhap news agency earlier reported 20 bodies were found inside the factory. The fire, which has largely been extinguished, broke out at around 10:30 a.m. (0130 GMT) at the facility run by battery manufacturer Aricell in Hwaseong, south of the capital Seoul.
An official at Hwaseong Fire Station, Kim Jin-young, said a total of 23 workers were missing, 20 of them with foreign nationalities including Chinese. Further details of nationalities were still being confirmed, Kim added.
The blaze began after a series of battery cells exploded inside a warehouse containing some 35,000 units, according to the fire station.
Source Agencies
