A fire at a lithium-ion battery factory near Seoul killed 22 workers, most of them Chinese, officials said on Monday, one of the deadliest fires in South Korea in recent years.
Officials said rescuers were still searching for a worker who had been reported missing in Hwaseong, 45 kilometers south of Seoul. They said it was unclear whether the worker was inside the building when the fire broke out.
Two workers were taken to hospital for treatment for serious injuries, while six others suffered minor injuries.
Kim Jin-young, an official at the Hwaseong Fire Department, said 102 people were working at the factory, owned by lithium battery maker Aricell, when the fire broke out. Eighteen of the 22 victims were Chinese.laborand a Laotian laborer, and two Koreans.
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The victims died on the second floor of the factory, which covers an area of ​​1,161 square meters and has two unlocked emergency exit stairs leading to the outside, but Jin Zhenyong said that the workers were engulfed by flames and toxic fumes before they reached the emergency exits.
Senior fire official Zhao Shanhao (sound) said at a press conference on Monday that it took only 15 seconds for the floor to be surrounded by thick smoke and flames.
He said after unsuccessfully trying to put out the fire with a fire extinguisher, the workers rushed to an area of ​​the floor with no exit.
He said the workers who died were temporary workers who were likely unfamiliar with the building’s structure. “The smoke was very toxic and one or two breaths of it would make you unconscious,” he said.
Chinese, including ethnic Koreans, make up the largest group of migrant workers in South Korea. More than 100,000 of the 523,000 foreigners who visited South Korea on temporary work visas were from China, according to government data released late last year.
In addition, tens of thousands of ethnic Korean Chinese hold special long-term work visas that South Korea grants to ethnic Koreans living abroad.
After decades of low birth rates, South Korea has become increasingly reliant on migrant workers to fill jobs that locals won’t take. Without them, many farms and small factories in industrial cities like Hwaseong can’t function.
Jin Zhenyong said that the workers who successfully escaped said that the fire was caused by a battery. There were 35,000 lithium batteries stored on the second floor of the factory, and the fire caused a series of explosions in some of the batteries.
Lithium batteries can short-circuit and catch fire when their inner layers are compressed, either by a sudden impact, such as in a vehicle crash, or as the battery gradually expands during normal use.
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Lithium is a metal that can store a lot of energy in a small volume, which is why it is so popular as a battery material. But this also means that in the event of a short circuit, there is a lot of energy that can be converted into heat or even flames. In many countries, including the United States,Fires caused by lithium batteries have becomeA growing problemfire has been a common concern for battery manufacturers.
Aricell, owner of the Hwaseong plant, makes batteries that are commonly used in power and other utility networks.
Fire, toxic smoke and the possibility of further explosions hampered firefighters’ search for missing workers on Monday. Television footage from the fire scene showed flames and thick smoke billowing from the factory. Images taken after the fire was extinguished showed burned buildings and collapsed roofs.
More than 160 firefighters and 60 fire trucks rushed to the scene to put out the fire. President Yoon Seok-yeol asked the government to “mobilize all available human resources and equipment.”
This is the southeastern part of Seoul since 2020Fire at a construction sitecause38 deathsThe fire is the deadliest in South Korea since 1997.
Despite its reputation for cutting-edge technology and manufacturing, South Korea has long been plagued by problems including fires.The trouble caused by man-made disasters.
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In 2018, aLack of automatic fire sprinkler systemA fire at a hospital in the United States killed nearly 50 people, mostly elderly patients, from inhaling toxic smoke. In 2017, a fire at a fitness center and public bathroom killed 29 people.DeathIn 2008, a cold storage under constructionFireincluding 40 migrant workersPeople died.