Fire in metropolis: nearly 90 people injured in high-rise fire in South Korea

Friday, October 9, 2020

These are images that say it all: In the South Korean city of Ulsan, a fire breaks out in a skyscraper. It doesn’t take long and one side of the building is completely on fire.

Dozens of people were injured in a nighttime fire at a 33-story skyscraper in South Korea’s industrial and port city of Ulsan. Pictures of the fire on South Korean television showed an entire side of the building on Friday night (local time) on fire. 88 people who were rescued from the fire or who were saved were taken to a hospital early in the morning, the national news agency Yonhap reported, citing rescuers. Most of them would have minor smoke inhalation wounds or wounds.

It was not initially clear if the fire in the metropolis in the southeast of the country resulted in deaths. According to Yonhap, the fire was largely brought under control after a few hours, but the situation in the commercial and residential building was still unclear around two in the morning. The fire was not completely extinguished hours later.

People flee to the roof

The fire is believed to have started between the eighth and twelfth floors around 11 p.m. Thursday and then quickly spread upward. The fire was fanned by strong winds. The photographs showed large chunks of concrete falling to the street. It was unclear if there was an acute risk of collapse from the fire.

Some 50 people had reportedly fled to the top or roof of the building to save themselves. The fire broke out suddenly, Yonhap said, citing a resident in his fifties. “The windows were smashed and the living room and bathroom caught fire.” He ran out as soon as he got the news of the fire, said a shopkeeper downstairs.

The fire department in the city of 1.2 million people tried to get residents to safety as soon as possible. Hundreds of people reportedly lived in the skyscraper. It was initially unknown how many of them were in the building at the time of the accident.