Hospital fire in SKorea kills 21
Print Edition
A FIRE believed to be set by an 81-year-old dementia patient blazed through a hospital ward for the elderly yesterday and killed 21 people in South Korea, mostly from smoke inhalation, police and fire officials said.
The fire on the second floor of the Hyosarang Hospital in the Jangseong county also injured seven people and raised concerns about lax fire regulations at a time when the nation is undergoing soul-searching about public safety following last month’s ferry sinking that killed more than 300 people.
Media reports said that hospitals for the elderly such as Hyosarang, which specializes in dementia and palsy patients, are not required to have sprinklers in South Korea despite a rapidly aging population.
Security video showed the suspect entering the room where the blaze began, and the remains of a lighter were found in that room, police station chief Noh Kyu-ho said. Noh said the man, identified only by his surname Kim, denied responsibility.
The video footage showed the fire starting to spread from that room about two minutes after Kim left. He moved back to his own room afterward and then quickly exited the hospital later.
There were 34 patients and one nurse on the hospital’s second floor at the time of the blaze, and Jangseong Fire Department officials said 20 of the patients and the nurse were killed, mostly from suffocation. More than 270 firefighters put the fire out after about six minutes.
Officials said that 45 people were on the hospital’s first floor but that they all escaped.
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