South Korean car washer gets 18 months in prison for starting fire that damaged 100 Mercedes
- A mobile car washer was jailed in South Korea for smoking next to a gas canister and sparking a fire that gutted the basement of an apartment block
- The blaze caused $US3.1 million in destruction, and damaged more than 600 cars, including 100 Mercedes vehicles
The 31-year-old man received 18 months in prison, and was convicted of accidentally starting a fire while lighting a cigarette next to a liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) canister. The cylinder installed in his van was used for making high-pressure steam to wash vehicles.
But the man, whose name is being withheld from the public under the country’s privacy law, will only be able to pay 100 million won (US$72,900) of the total because that is the maximum amount covered by his insurance policy.
The incident happened in a luxury block of flats in the southern city of Cheonan in August last year.
The come-to-your home car wash/detailer attempted to smoke, forgetting the gas canister’s valve remained open while the highly explosive gas was escaping into the air, according to court findings.
The detailer admitted he attempted to smoke near the cylinder but insisted it had leaked for unknown reasons and therefore, he was not directly responsible for the explosion.
His lawyer also said the detailer would have not lit up had he noticed the leak.
“He felt sorry for causing serious damage through a blunder and he now may have to spend his entire life to pay for the damage,” his lawyer said in court, pleading for leniency.
However, the court’s Senior Judge Seo Jeon-gyo found the man directly responsible for the fire for failing to follow his boss’ orders to close the valve before moving to the block of flats after he finished a job at a different location.
“He did something seriously wrong as it might have resulted in a loss of many human lives,” the judge said.
“However, the mitigating factor is that no others were injured but for himself,” he said, referring to the detailer who received a third degree burn.
The court also gave both the 34-year-old operator of the mobile car wash, and the apartment manager a suspended jail sentence for failing to prevent the accident.
