SEOUL: A fire in an eight-storey fitness centre in the scenic South Korean city of Jecheon on Thursday killed at least 29 people, most of them as they were taking a sauna, officials said.
The blaze began in a car parked on the first floor and spread, one official told Reuters. The local fire station said at least 12 women and three men were known to have died. Thirteen bodies were unrecognisable.
The fire station official said most of the victims were found in the sauna, and the main cause of the death was suffocation rather than burns.
The casualty toll was likely to rise as efforts to find victims remained in progress, fire station officials said.
Heavy smoke charred glass facades of the building as firefighters struggled to extinguish the blaze, some climbing up and down a ladder in desperate search of survivors.
Local news channel YTN said President Moon Jae-in voiced deep sorrow for so many deaths while Prime Minister Lee Nak-yeon vowed to expedite rescue efforts to try to minimise the number of dead and injured.
Jecheon is southeast of the capital Seoul and is popular with visitors to its mountains and lakes.
(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The blaze began in a car parked on the first floor and spread, one official told Reuters. The local fire station said at least 12 women and three men were known to have died. Thirteen bodies were unrecognisable.
The fire station official said most of the victims were found in the sauna, and the main cause of the death was suffocation rather than burns.
Heavy smoke charred glass facades of the building as firefighters struggled to extinguish the blaze, some climbing up and down a ladder in desperate search of survivors.
Advertisement
Jecheon is southeast of the capital Seoul and is popular with visitors to its mountains and lakes.
© Thomson Reuters 2017
Advertisement
COMMENTS
Advertisement
CISF Constable Recruitment 2024: Registration For 1,130 Posts Begins Today Delhi Bus Catches Fire, All Passengers Rescued Argument Over Sitting On Glass Table Led To Firing Outside Delhi Cafe: Cops Celebrated "Russian Spy" Whale Hvaldimir Found Dead In Norway: Report INDIA's "Hit With Footwear" Protest In Mumbai Over Shivaji Statue Collapse "It's Mom, I Love You": Mother Of Israeli-American Found Dead In Gaza Ukrainian Drones Target Oil Refinery, Power Plants In Moscow, Says Russia Bollywood Romance Is Dead. Long Live Action! Nurse Molested By Patient During Late Night Shift At West Bengal Hospital Track Latest News Live on NDTV.com and get news updates from India and around the world.