At least 7 people were killed and 11 injured in a hotel fire in Bucheon city, South Korea.
The fire broke out at 7:39 p.m. (5:39 p.m. Hanoi time) on the 8th floor of a 9-story hotel in Bucheon city, Gyeonggi province, more than 20 km from the capital Seoul, according to the Gyeonggi provincial fire department.
The hotel has 64 rooms, and an estimated 27 guests were in the building when the fire broke out.
The fire killed seven people, including at least one foreigner. Some died after jumping from the eighth floor onto an air mattress below. Eleven people were injured, three of them critically, and are being treated at local hospitals.
Fire broke out at a hotel in Bucheon city, Gyeonggi province, South Korea on the evening of August 22. Photo: Yonhap
Authorities deployed 70 fire engines and 160 firefighters to the scene. The fire did not spread inside the building but created a lot of smoke. Most of the fire was extinguished by 10:14 p.m.
South Korean Interior Minister Lee Sang-min called on local authorities to make every effort, using all available equipment and manpower to completely extinguish the fire and rescue people.
“Rescue efforts are still underway. Only when the search is completed can we determine the exact number of casualties,” a police officer said.