12 Organizations Including Ministry of the Interior and Safety and Chinese Embassy in Korea Participate
Support for Funeral and Bereaved Families of the Deceased... Legal and Medical Consultations Also Provided
Hwaseong City in Gyeonggi Province has established and begun operating an 'Integrated Support Center for Victims' within Hwaseong City Hall to support the bereaved families of the deceased and the injured from the Jeongok-ri battery factory fire.
On the morning of the 25th, firefighters are conducting a search for missing persons at the battery factory fire site in Jeongok-ri, Seosin-myeon, Hwaseong-si, Gyeonggi-do, which resulted in more than 30 casualties. [Yonhap News]
The center, set up in the large conference room on the 5th floor of City Hall, is composed of 13 teams. Twelve organizations are participating, including Hwaseong City, the Ministry of the Interior and Safety, the Ministry of Employment and Labor, the Embassy of China in Korea, Gyeonggi Province, Suwon Immigration Office, Korea Legal Aid Corporation, Korea Occupational Safety and Health Agency, and Icheon City. Icheon City is participating in an advisory role based on its experience responding to the 'Icheon Logistics Warehouse Fire Disaster' in 2020, which claimed the lives of 38 workers.
The support center provides assistance with locating missing persons, funeral support for the deceased, support for bereaved families, medical support for the injured, relief for disaster victims, legal counseling, disaster site cleanup, and psychological counseling.
The center plans to assign dedicated staff to five funeral homes where the victims' bodies are dispersed and to establish a cooperative system with the embassies of the respective countries to support funerals for foreign victims.
Emergency living expenses, medical costs, and psychological counseling will also be provided to bereaved families, the injured, and evacuees from the site. The Korea Legal Aid Corporation will set up a legal counseling office within the Integrated Support Center to assist victims including bereaved families.
Hwaseong City is considering establishing a joint memorial altar at the Seosin-myeon Multipurpose Gymnasium as soon as the identities of the deceased are confirmed. According to the city, the police's identification results, requested from the National Forensic Service, are expected to be released by the afternoon of the 25th.
Mayor Jeong Myeong-geun of Hwaseong City said, "We pray for the souls of the victims who lost their lives in this fire," and added, "We plan to mobilize all administrative resources to support everything from the funeral procedures of the victims to the livelihood support of the bereaved families."
Meanwhile, the fire that broke out at 10:31 a.m. the previous day at Arisell, a primary battery manufacturer located in the Jeongok Marine General Industrial Complex in Jeongok-ri, Seosin-myeon, Hwaseong City, has so far resulted in 22 deaths, 1 missing person, and 8 people seriously or moderately injured. Due to severe damage to the recovered bodies, only the identities of two Korean workers have been confirmed. Fire authorities completed extinguishing operations at 8:48 a.m. on the day, about 22 hours after the fire started, and are conducting internal search operations.
© The Asia Business Daily(www.asiae.co.kr). All rights reserved.
