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Reuters

South Korean police have arrested the owner and the manager of a building where 29 people died in a fire last week, accusing the pair of multiple safety lapses, including blocked exits and malfunctioning sprinkler systems.
On Thursday a fire ripped through an eight-storey high rise in the small city of Jecheon. At least 20 of the victims were women who were overcome by toxic fumes in a second-floor sauna.
Jecheon police have only identified the owner by his last name of Lee, and the manager by his last name of Kim.
Both men are in custody in Jecheon after being arrested on Sunday, police announced Tuesday.
Lee faces two charges of violating fire safety regulations and committing involuntary homicide by professional negligence, while Kim also faces the involuntary homicide charge.
If convicted of involuntary homicide, Lee and Kim could face five years in prison or 20 million won (US$16,000) in fines.

“The sprinkler system on the building’s first floor did not work properly when the fire erupted,” a police detective said.
“If the sprinkler system worked, the fire probably would not have spread as fast as it did.”
A fire exit was filled with shelves and supplies on the second floor, where most of the deaths occurred.
“The emergency exit on the building’s second floor was blocked by iron shelves and other miscellaneous items,” the detective confirmed.
Officials are still investigating the cause of the conflagration.

According to police, both Kim and Lee had denied reports they were trying to remove ice on the ceiling of the first floor, where the fire appeared to have originated, but later changed their statements after police confronted them with evidence.
The Korea JoongAng Daily newspaper reported on Tuesday that Lee had at one point told police he did not alert the women in the sauna because they were undressed, however, the police detective told Reuters he could not confirm that as investigations were ongoing.
Anger mounted over the weekend at reports of shoddy construction, broken doors, blocked roads and other problems that may have contributed to the deaths.
Yonhap photos of the scene showed parked cars surrounding the building, with some witnesses saying that combined with narrow roads to delay the response by fire trucks.
A bill was introduced in March calling for doubling the penalty for illegal parking on a fire engine access road but it is still pending, according to the National Assembly’s bill tracking archive.
Visiting the scene on Friday, President Moon Jae-in promised a full investigation.
“The government as a whole will thoroughly probe this accident’s cause and process of response, and although after the fact, the investigation and measures will be such that, at least, there will not be lingering deep sorrow,” he said.
On Monday, a separate fire at a construction site at a flat complex south of Seoul killed one person and injured 14 others, according to Yonhap.


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South Korea

Owner and manager arrested after South Korea building blaze kills 29

Both men face involuntary homicide charges after Thursday’s inferno

This general view shows an eight-storey building damaged in a blaze which killed 29 people and injured 29 others in the southern city of Jecheon on December 22, 2017. A major blaze that ripped through a fitness centre in South Korea evoked the deadly London Grenfell Tower fire with inflammable finishing materials blamed for the tragedy, experts said. / AFP PHOTO / YONHAP / - / - South Korea OUT / REPUBLIC OF KOREA OUT - NO ARCHIVES - RESTRICTED TO SUBSCRIPTION USE

epa06402525 South Korean President Moon Jae-in (C) visits the scene of a deadly blaze at a gym in Jecheon, some 170 kilometers southeast of Seoul, South Korea, 22 December 2017. The fire, which took place at the eight-story sports center the previous day, left 29 dead, with most of them women who were trapped inside a sauna on the second floor. EPA-EFE/YONHAP SOUTH KOREA OUT

Firefighters pay silent tributes to the victims. Photo: EPA

At least 29 people feared dead after fire in South Korean building

Firefighters try to extinguish a fire at an eight-floor building in Jecheon. Photo: AP

‘Fire trap waiting to happen’: deadly blaze in South Korea invites comparisons to Grenfell tragedy

The eight-storey building damaged in a blaze which killed 29 people and injured 29 others in the southern city of Jecheon. Photo: AFP

Firefighters search through an eight-storey building damaged by a fire that killed 29 people and injured 29 others in the southern city of Jecheon on December 22, 2017. A major blaze that ripped through a fitness centre in South Korea evoked the deadly London Grenfell Tower fire with inflammable finishing materials blamed for the tragedy, experts said. / AFP PHOTO / YONHAP / - / - South Korea OUT / REPUBLIC OF KOREA OUT - NO ARCHIVES - RESTRICTED TO SUBSCRIPTION USE

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Both men face involuntary homicide charges after Thursday’s inferno
