Fire on 10th Floor of Apartment in Yeoksam-dong, Gangnam-gu... Residents Evacuate Urgently

11-month-old Child and Air Conditioner Technician Hospitalized After Smoke Inhalation
40 Residents Evacuated Urgently... Rescue Awaited on Rooftop

A fire broke out in a 16-story apartment building in Yeoksam-dong, Gangnam-gu, Seoul, causing about 40 residents to evacuate, and two people, including an 11-month-old baby, were transported to the hospital.

On the 20th, Yonhap News reported that at around 1:22 p.m., a fire occurred on the 10th floor of the 16-story apartment building. A man in his 50s who was working on an air conditioner inside the apartment at the time was taken to the hospital with burns on both hands and smoke inhalation.

An 11-month-old boy living on the floor below the fire also inhaled smoke and was transported to the hospital, while seven other residents received on-site treatment for minor smoke inhalation.

On the afternoon of the 20th, a fire broke out on the 10th floor of an apartment in Yeoksam-dong, Gangnam-gu, Seoul, and students returning home from school are watching the fire scene.
[Photo by Yonhap News]

The fire department, which responded to the report, mobilized 286 personnel and 45 pieces of equipment, completed initial extinguishing by around 3:22 p.m., and as of 4 p.m., was still cleaning up the remaining flames. The affected building houses 48 households with 178 residents. When the fire broke out, 22 residents evacuated on their own, 14 were guided by firefighters to the rooftop, and 3 sought refuge on the ground.

Residents who hurriedly escaped their homes watched the firefighting efforts and expressed their shock, saying, "What is going on?" A resident living on the floor below the fire told Yonhap News, "I came out because there was a pungent smell, but when I stepped outside, debris was falling and the situation was serious," adding, "I can't go back into my home."

Gangnam-gu Office plans to guide the displaced residents to nearby lodging facilities. Currently, a shelter for the displaced has been set up at the Yeoksam 2 Community Center. Additionally, a nearby elementary school protected students living near the fire-affected apartment in the auditorium before handing them over to their guardians. To facilitate firefighting and site management, six lanes of Yeoksam-ro (from Gaenari Apartment Intersection to Doseong Elementary School Intersection) were fully closed. The fire department plans to determine the exact cause of the fire and assess the extent of property damage after completely extinguishing the remaining flames.

On the afternoon of the 20th, a fire broke out in an apartment in Yeoksam-dong, Gangnam-gu, Seoul, with thick black smoke rising.
[Photo by Yonhap News]

Meanwhile, on the 19th, a fire broke out in the underground parking lot of a 23-story high-rise apartment in Mok-dong, Yangcheon-gu, Seoul, causing about 110 residents to evacuate in a commotion. Although there were no serious casualties, the firefighting took more than 11 hours, during which a fire helicopter was dispatched to rescue some residents trapped on the rooftop, and an additional explosion during the suppression injured 17 firefighters.

The fire started at around 8:02 a.m. that day in a recycling bin on the second basement floor of the apartment. The flames quickly spread to the basement level 2 parking lot and the basement level 1 commercial area, prompting 113 residents to evacuate. During the evacuation, 42 residents inhaled smoke but were not transported to the hospital.

The fire department issued a Level 1 response at around 10:37 a.m., 2 hours and 35 minutes after the fire started, deploying all available personnel and equipment from the jurisdictional fire stations, including 349 firefighters and 93 pieces of equipment. However, the sprinkler system installed where the fire began did not operate, and due to heat and smoke, access to the fire scene was difficult, causing the suppression to take a long time. Additionally, around 3 p.m., during active firefighting, an explosion occurred in the commercial area on the first floor above ground. Due to this explosion, 17 firefighters involved in firefighting and rescue operations sustained minor injuries, and 11 of them were transported to the hospital.

As firefighting was delayed, a fire helicopter was deployed around 6 p.m. to rescue some residents who had taken refuge on the rooftop. The fire was finally extinguished at 7:44 p.m., 11 hours and 42 minutes after it started. A fire official stated, "The exact cause of the fire is under investigation," adding, "We also need to investigate why the sprinkler system did not operate."