2 Dead, 28 Injured in Fire at Goheung 'Yunho21 Hospital'

On the morning of the 10th, a fire broke out on the first floor of a hospital in Goheung-eup, Goheung-gun, Jeollanam-do, where firefighters entered the emergency room to carry out cleanup operations. As a result of the fire, two people died and 30 were injured and were transported to the hospital for treatment.
[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Jo In-kyung] A fire broke out at 'Yunho 21 Hospital' located in Namgye-ri, Goheung-eup, Goheung-gun, Jeollanam-do, resulting in 30 casualties including 2 deaths as of now.

According to the Fire Agency and Jeollanam-do Fire Headquarters on the 10th, a fire was reported at the hospital at 3:42 a.m. that day. They deployed 35 pieces of equipment and about 290 personnel, and completely extinguished the fire at 6:01 a.m., about 2 hours and 30 minutes later.

Two people inside the hospital were found dead on the stairs of the 2nd and 3rd floors due to the fire. Including 8 seriously injured, a total of 28 people were injured and were transported to five nearby hospitals such as Goheung Hospital and Nokdong Hyundai Hospital.

The fire authorities initially counted all 56 people transported to the hospital as injured, but 28 of them were confirmed to be simple transfers and were excluded from the number of injured. Most of the injured are known to have inhaled smoke.

At the time of the fire, there were 86 people in the hospital, including 69 inpatients and 7 nurses. Although there were 97 registered inpatients, 28 of them were found to be out.

Among the 86 people in the hospital, 20 escaped on their own through the first-floor door, and the rest who could not escape outside took refuge on the 5th floor and rooftop, then were rescued by the fire department using ladder trucks. The two deceased found on the stairs of the 2nd and 3rd floors are also presumed to have inhaled smoke during evacuation.

The fire authorities estimate the cause of the fire to be electrical based on witness statements that the fire initially started between the internal medicine and orthopedic departments on the first floor.

The hospital is a medium-sized facility with one basement floor and seven above-ground floors, a total floor area of 3,210㎡, and 26 rooms accommodating about 100 people. The hospital was equipped with 8 indoor fire hydrants, automatic fire detection systems, and fire extinguishers, but there were no sprinklers.