Fire kills 29 people at building for public sauna and fitness center

By Lim Chang-won Posted : December 21, 2017, 23:24 Updated : December 21, 2017, 23:24

[Yonhap News Photo]


SEOUL, Dec. 21 (Aju News) -- At least 29 people died and 26 others were injured Thursday in a fire that engulfed an eight-story building housing a fitness center,  a public sauna and restaurants in a southeastern provincial city.

The fire started at 3:35 pm (0635 GMT) from a vehicle parked on the first-floor parking lot, spreading swiftly through the stair passages of the building in Jecheon, about 115 kilometers (71 miles) southeast of Seoul, firefighters said.

The building housed a public sauna on the second and third floor and restaurants on the eighth floor. A fitness center was located from the fourth to seventh floor.

More than 70 people were trapped inside soon after the fire broke out, with flames blocking off the main entrance. Rescue workers launched a floor-to-floor search two hours after the blaze was put under control. Their initial operation was hampered by toxic smoke.

Firefighters discovered 20 bodies trapped in the second-floor sauna for women while nine bodies were retrieved from the fitness center.

Dozens of fire engines and rescue vehicles were mobilized, along with two helicopters, with safety mattresses placed on the ground. About 20 people were rescued from the rooftop. Firefighters said many of those injured inhaled smoke and were sent to hospitals for treatment.

"When the fire emergency bell rang, I saw through the window flames and smoke rising up quickly," Kim Jong-soo, a 64-year-old barber working in the third-floor sauna, told Yonhap News Agency.

Because the building was swiftly engulfed in flames, guests were unable to dress and escaped through the emergency stairs, he was quoted as saying.
기사 이미지 확대 보기
닫기