At least six people were killed and 25 were injured on Friday in a fire at a construction site at a luxury hotel in Busan, a port city in southeastern South Korea, firefighters said.
The fire department received its first report around 10:50am. This clearly erupted in the swimming pool area on the first floor of the 12-storey building, said Hommoonsik, the Jeejang County fire chief. The fire station said the hotel is a tree resort in Banyan.
The fire quickly spread, and dark smoke swirled from the building by the time rescuers arrived, Chief Hong told reporters. The six people who died were unconscious in the pool area where insulation was burning, creating black smoke that was difficult to evacuate, he said.
The injured people were found throughout the building. The building has three underground levels in addition to the 12-storey building, Chief Hong said, and emergency workers rescued 14 people from the roof. The fire was in control by 1:30pm, firefighters said.
Hundreds of firefighters and more than 120 fire trucks have been deployed on the scene, they said.
“The high number of casualties meant that the fire had already spread by the time we arrived at the scene,” Chief Hong said outside the construction site. He added that the cause of the fire is under investigation.
The hotel is owned by Banyan Group, a Singaporean company. The company did not immediately respond to requests for comment. The hotel is scheduled to open this year, and construction is almost complete.
This is a developing story.
