South Korean Hotel Fire Allegedly Triggered By Short Circuit, Death Toll Becomes 7 People, 2 Jumps From 8th Floor

JAKARTA - The death toll from a hotel fire in Bucheon City, South Korea (South Korea) is seven people. Two of them jumped from the eighth floor.

Quoting AP, Friday, August 23, the Head of the Gyeonggi Province fire service, Cho Seon-ho, said five other victims died from smoke.

Meanwhile, two who jumped from the eighth floor tried to land in a rescue balloon installed by firefighters at the bottom of the hotel front.

When one victim landed hard in a balloon, he rolled over the second victim who followed the jump, causing both of them to be seriously injured.

Meanwhile, 12 injured victims are currently receiving treatment at the hospital.

Officials at the Bucheon Fire Department, Lee Sang-don said, the fire that started from an empty room on the eighth floor should not spread quickly. However, because the room was not protected by APAR, the toxic smoke quickly filled the upper floor.

Most of the victims who died, he said, were found in rooms and alleys on the eighth and ninth floors.

He explained that the nine-story hotel in Bucheon City was built in 2003. At that time the building was not required to have a fire fighting system.

South Korea has just issued a building regulation of more than six floors that must be equipped with a fire fighting system in 2017.

The joint SAR team formed by the local government consisting of firefighters, forensic experts, and police started an investigation today at the scene to investigate the cause of the fire. Temporary suspicions of the fire due to electrical problems.