‘Fire trap waiting to happen’: deadly blaze in South Korea invites comparisons to Grenfell tragedy
Experts point to insufficient emergency exits, flammable finishing materials and illegally parked cars blocking access to fire trucks
Flammable materials on the outside a South Korean building fuelled a major blaze that killed 29 people, experts said Friday, evoking comparisons with the Grenfell Tower disaster in London.
The fire engulfed an eight-storey tower in the southern city of Jecheon, killing 29 people and injuring 29 more. 20 of the dead were found at a female sauna and others elsewhere in the building, which also houses a fitness centre and restaurants.
Experts said the structure was a fire trap waiting to happen, with insufficient emergency exits, flammable finishing materials and illegally parked cars blocking access to fire trucks.
Street surveillance video footage showed orange flames and black smoke billowing from the ceiling of a ground floor car park underneath the stilted building, which stood on pillars.
The fire spread quickly upwards along the outside walls of the tower, which contained cheap but highly flammable finishing materials.
There were three or four exploding sounds and I saw the fire on the ground floor quickly jump upwards along the outside walls
“There were three or four exploding sounds and I saw the fire on the ground floor quickly jump upwards along the outside walls,” said one witness.