Minister Jinyoung: "Swift Recovery of Pension Fire in Donghae-si, Gangwon... One-to-One Dedicated Officials Assigned"

Yonhap News

[Asia Economy Reporter Osangdo] Jin Young, Minister of the Ministry of the Interior and Safety, held an emergency meeting with related agencies regarding the gas explosion fire accident that occurred at a pension in Donghae-si, Gangwon Province, urging prompt accident response.

At the meeting held on the morning of the 26th at the Seoul Situation Center of the Central Disaster and Safety Situation Room in the Government Seoul Office Building, Minister Jin said, "Assign dedicated public officials one-on-one for each casualty to do their best in providing support," and "Investigate the cause of the accident jointly with related agencies to prevent recurrence of similar accidents."

He continued, "I ask related agencies and local governments to thoroughly manage safety and respond to accidents so that the public can safely conclude the Lunar New Year holiday." Minister Jin also added at the meeting, "We must do our best to ensure there are no blind spots in quarantine and management of suspected cases of the novel coronavirus."

The Ministry of the Interior and Safety has been operating its own situation management team since the accident occurred. Additionally, a rapid response team was dispatched to the site by the relevant local government.

Earlier, at around 7:46 PM the previous day, an accident presumed to be caused by a gas explosion occurred at a pension in Mukhojindong, Donghae-si, Gangwon Province, resulting in 4 deaths and 5 people sustaining serious and moderate injuries.