On June 24, local time, a fire broke out in the factory of a battery manufacturing company in Hwaseong, Gyeonggi Province, South Korea. On the 25th, the South Korean police said that search and rescue personnel found a new body at the fire scene of the Hwaseong battery factory in Gyeonggi Province, South Korea, which was previously missing, and the death toll in the accident rose to 23.
At noon on the 25th local time, in order to find out the cause of the fire accident at the Hwaseong Battery Factory in Gyeonggi Province, South Korea, relevant personnel from nine departments, including the South Korean police, fire department, National Institute of Scientific Investigation, Institute of Homeland Security, and the Ministry of Employment and Labor, carried out joint investigation and identification at the fire scene.
The police plan to focus their investigation on identifying the exact initial point of the fire, thereby identifying the cause of the fire and conducting joint investigations and identification with other departments. On the 24th, the South Korean police set up an investigation headquarters consisting of more than 130 people to thoroughly investigate the fire accident.
On June 25, 2024 local time, in Seoul, South Korea, at the in-house countermeasures meeting held by the National Assembly, South Korean lawmakers observed a moment of silence for the victims. Source: VCG
According to previous news, at around 10:31 a.m. on the 24th, a lithium battery factory located in an industrial park in Hwaseong, Gyeonggi Province, South Korea, caught fire. At around 15:10, the fire was brought under control and the fire department began to enter the building for search and rescue. Earlier in the day, the fire department said 23 people were missing in the fire, 20 of them foreigners. However, due to the burning of the list of factory personnel, the personal information of the victims is yet to be further verified.
Late at night on the 24th, Oh Hou-seok, the second vice governor of Gyeonggi Province, South Korea, the mayor of Hwaseong City, Jung Myung-geun, and officials from the fire department introduced the accident and the progress of the search and rescue to Xing Haiming, the Chinese ambassador to South Korea who rushed to the fire scene of the Hwaseong battery factory. The South Korean side said that 17 Chinese citizens were killed based on personal belongings and other preliminary judgments.
On June 25, at the scene of the fire at the battery factory in Hwaseong, South Korea, firefighters were conducting search and rescue work. Source: VCG
According to the person in charge of the fire department who participated in the fire scene rescue of the Hwaseong battery factory in Gyeonggi Province, South Korea, after analyzing the on-site surveillance video and other preliminary investigations, when the lithium battery factory where a serious fire broke out on the same day, a large amount of smoke came out of the lithium battery and burned rapidly. It only takes 15 seconds to go from white smoke to intense combustion to smoke filling the entire work space. Although the on-site staff tried to extinguish the fire with fire extinguishers, the fire did not stop the development of the fire.
On June 25, according to the South Korean police, a total of 22 people were killed and 1 person was missing, including 17 Chinese citizens, 1 Lao citizen, 5 South Korean citizens, and 8 people were injured in the accident.
According to South Korean police, the remains of two victims have been identified, and the others still need to be identified by DNA testing. The list of victims is determined by the police on the basis of the list of on-site personnel, etc.
Firefighters extinguish a fire at a battery factory in Hwaseong, Gyeonggi Province, South Korea, on June 24. Source: Xinhua News Agency
At around 8:48 a.m. on the 25th, the fire was completely extinguished after 22 hours of fire-fighting work. The South Korean fire department and others continue to search for the missing person, and a joint investigation team formed by several departments of the South Korean government to conduct further analysis of the cause of the accident at the scene.
On the morning of June 25, South Korean Prime Minister Han Deok-so presided over a state meeting. At the meeting, Han Deok-so expressed condolences to the victims and their families of the victims of the South Korean battery factory fire accident on the 24th, saying that the South Korean government will work closely with relevant countries to treat the injured, thoroughly investigate the cause of the accident, and make every effort to deal with the aftermath.
Source: Comprehensive CCTV News, Xinhua News Agency