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Construction site fire in South Korea kills at least 38

Reuters
·1 min read
  • Firefighters search for survivors as smoke rises from a warehouse which is currently under construction, after it caught fire, in Icheon
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    Construction site fire in South Korea kills at least 38

    Firefighters search for survivors as smoke rises from a warehouse which is currently under construction, after it caught fire, in Icheon
  • Firefighters try to put out fire as smoke rises from a warehouse which is currently under construction, after it caught fire, in Icheon
    2/4

    Construction site fire in South Korea kills at least 38

    Firefighters try to put out fire as smoke rises from a warehouse which is currently under construction, after it caught fire, in Icheon
  • Firefighters and rescue workers check the condition of a survivors rescued from a warehouse which is currently under construction, after it caught fire, in Icheon
    3/4

    Construction site fire in South Korea kills at least 38

    Firefighters and rescue workers check the condition of a survivors rescued from a warehouse which is currently under construction, after it caught fire, in Icheon
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  • Smoke rises from a warehouse which is currently under construction, after it caught fire, in Icheon
    4/4

    Construction site fire in South Korea kills at least 38

    Smoke rises from a warehouse which is currently under construction, after it caught fire, in Icheon
Firefighters search for survivors as smoke rises from a warehouse which is currently under construction, after it caught fire, in Icheon
Firefighters try to put out fire as smoke rises from a warehouse which is currently under construction, after it caught fire, in Icheon
Firefighters and rescue workers check the condition of a survivors rescued from a warehouse which is currently under construction, after it caught fire, in Icheon
Smoke rises from a warehouse which is currently under construction, after it caught fire, in Icheon

SEOUL (Reuters) - A fire at a construction site in South Korea killed at least 38 people and injured another 10 on Wednesday, fire authorities said.

The fire broke out when workers were building a warehouse in the city of Icheon, about 80 kilometres (50 miles) southeast of Seoul, they said.

They said "rapid combustion" occurred while workers were working on an underground level of the warehouse, adding that they are investigating the cause of the blaze.

A total of 410 people including 335 firefighters, were mobilised to respond to the accident.

South Korean President Moon Jae-in asked related ministries to do their utmost efforts for the search and rescue operation by mobilising all available resources, presidential blue house spokesman Kang Min-seok said.

The fire was extinguished five hours after it occurred at 1:32 pm, Yonhap News Agency said.

(Reporting by Hyunjoo Jin and Sangmi Cha; Writing by Josh Smith; Editing by Simon Cameron-Moore)