Tragedy, 14 Dead From Fire at a South Korean Plant

Firefighters said all the missing are now known after a search operation on the ruins of the three-story building.

Nam Deuk-woo, chief of firemen, said the fire had spread so fast that when the firemen arrived, the workers had started jumping out of the windows.

Some 170 workers are believed to have been inside the factory when the fire was reported.

Firefighters were delayed to enter the building because of fear that it would collapse and could not immediately sprinkle water on flames because sodium ʹ that could explode when mixed with water had been stored and had to be removed first.

More than 200kg of very reactive chemicals were extracted from the scene.

Some of the injured suffered smoke, and others were injured when they were thrown out of the building, emergency workers said.

Nine of the 14 killed in the fire were reportedly found inside a space on the third floor used as a dressing room.

Some of the dead were burned so badly that they needed DNA tests to help identify them.

Officials are still investigating the cause of the flames, but one South witness said they had heard an explosion.

Otherwise, this is the deadliest fire in a South Korean factory since 2024, when 23 workers died in a lithium battery factory in Hwaseong, near Seoul. /Periscope