At least 11 people killed in fire at South Korean car parts factory
A fire at a car parts factory in South Korea has killed 11 people and injured almost 60 others.
Firefighters said the death toll could rise further. Rescuers were using dogs to search the wreckage of the three-storey building for three people who were still missing.
Video footage of the blaze at the building in Daejeon seemingly showed people jumping from the first floor to escape.
Nam Deuk-woo, a local fire chief, told the New York Times that the fire had spread so quickly that by the time firefighters arrived, workers had already started jumping out of windows.
About 170 workers are believed to have been inside the factory when the fire was reported on Friday afternoon. It was not extinguished until Saturday afternoon, local time.
Firefighters were delayed in accessing the building because of fears it would collapse, and could not immediately pour water on to the blaze because sodium – which can explode when mixed with water – was stored at the site and had to be removed first.
Plumes of black smoke were filmed rising from the steel-framed building as fire crews shot water at the site from cranes. More than 500 firefighters, police and emergency personnel were deployed to the scene, along with two unmanned firefighting robots to cool the building and access areas too dangerous or difficult for rescuers to reach.
The ministry of the interior and safety said 11 people had died, 25 had been seriously injured, and 34 others were injured but not in a serious condition. Three were still missing on Saturday.
Some of those injured suffered from smoke inhalation and others hurt themselves when they jumped from the building, emergency workers said. Almost all of those killed in the fire were reportedly found inside a third-floor space that had been used as a gym locker room.
Some of the dead were so badly burned that DNA tests were needed to help identify them, according to the New York Times.
Officials are still investigating the cause of the blaze but a witness told South Korea’s Yonhap news agency that they had heard an explosion.
It is the deadliest fire at a factory in South Korea since 23 workers died at a lithium battery plant in Hwaseong, near Seoul, in 2024. The CEO of the battery maker Aricell was later sentenced to 15 years in prison over that incident.
South Korea’s president, Lee Jae Myung, has called for better protections for the country’s workers, more than 10,000 of whom died at work from 2000 to 2024, according to official statistics.
Fire officials told Reuters the car parts supplier that owned the factory was Anjun Industrial, which makes engine valves and, according to its website, is a supplier for Hyundai and Kia, among others.
