Twenty-two people were killed, including 18 Chinese nationals, in a massive fire at a South Korean lithium battery factory, firefighters said Monday, one of the country’s worst industrial disasters in years.
More than 100 people were working at the factory when workers heard a series of explosions coming from the second floor, where lithium-ion batteries were being inspected and packaged, firefighter Kim Jin-young told media.
In the massive fire that followed, twenty-two people were killed, including 20 foreign nationals – 18 Chinese, one from Laos and one of unknown nationality, he said.
“Most of the bodies are badly burned, so it will take some time to identify them,” he added.
Firefighters are still searching for another missing person, he said, adding that they had managed to contain the plant’s largest fire and get inside.
Firefighters were “carrying out cooling operations to prevent the fire from spreading to nearby factories,” Kim said.
Dozens of fire trucks were lined up outside the factory, an AFP journalist noted, with rescue workers carrying the bodies, covered in blue blankets, out of the building on stretchers.
Images shared by Yonhap after the fire broke out showed huge plumes of gray smoke rising into the sky above the factory, with orange flames inside the building.
The vast factory stored about 35,000 battery cells on the second floor, with more batteries stored in other areas.
Lithium batteries burn hot and quickly and are difficult to control with conventional fire extinguishing methods.
“Due to fears of additional explosions, it was difficult to enter,” Kim said, describing the delicate rescue operation.
“As a lithium battery manufacturer, we (had) determined that spraying water would not put out the fire, so we (used) dry sand,” he said. added.
The lithium battery factory is owned by Aricell, a South Korean primary battery manufacturer. It is located in the city of Hwaseong, just south of the capital Seoul.
Shares of Aricell’s parent company, S-connect, plunged more than 20 percent on the Seoul Stock Exchange as of Monday’s close. S-connect owns 96 percent of Aricell.
Lithium batteries are used in everything from laptops to electric vehicles, but can be highly explosive, with airlines, for example, imposing strict regulations on control devices that contain them.
– ‘Mobilize all staff’ –
South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol issued emergency instructions to authorities, asking them to “mobilize all available personnel and equipment to focus on searching and rescuing people”, his office said.
The president also warned authorities that they should “ensure the safety of firefighters given the rapid spread of the fire.”
Hwaseong authorities sent a series of alerts to residents warning them to stay indoors.
“There is a lot of smoke due to factory fires. Please pay attention to safety, for example by refraining from going out,” says an alert sent by SMS.
“Factory fire. Please detour via surrounding roads and nearby citizens should close windows,” another read.
South Korea is a major producer of batteries, particularly those used in electric vehicles.
Its battery makers supply electric vehicle makers around the world, including Tesla.
The fire is one of the worst industrial disasters in South Korea in years.
Previously, the worst accident at a chemical plant occurred in 1989 at the Lucky Chemical plant in Yeosu, South Jeolla Province, which left 16 people dead and 17 injured.
A warehouse fire in Icheon in 2020 killed 38 people.
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