According to Yonhap News Agency, on the morning of June 24, local time, a fire broke out at a battery manufacturing plant in Hwaseong, Gyeonggi Province, South Korea. As of 17:55 local time on the 24th, the death toll from the fire has risen to 22.
Due to the plant's production of the hazardous chemical "lithium", the fire department preemptively issued a Level 2 response (ordering 3 to 7 fire stations to mobilize 31 to 50 pieces of equipment), and dispatched 145 firefighters and other personnel and 50 pieces of equipment to extinguish the fire.
It is understood that this battery factory stores 35,000 finished lithium batteries, and the fire caused many batteries to explode, which brought great difficulties to the fire extinguishing work of firefighters.
According to CCTV news, late at night on June 24, Chinese Ambassador to South Korea Xing Haiming rushed to the fire scene of the Hwaseong battery factory in Gyeonggi Province, South Korea, to learn about the accident, search and rescue progress, and aftermath arrangements, and listen to the relevant introductions of the South Korean government and fire department. According to personal belongings, it is preliminarily determined that there are 17 Chinese citizens, and the exact number needs to be further confirmed. Eight other people were injured, including one Chinese citizen with minor injuries, and all of the injured have been treated. The fire department is also searching for one other missing person. The ROK side also said that it deeply mourns the unfortunate death of Chinese citizens in the accident and will assist China in making every effort to rescue and deal with the aftermath.
The fire department reminds: how to prevent factory fires in factories and enterprises with dense personnel, many flammable and combustible materials, and large fire loads. You need to pay attention to these!