Three Additional Fatalities Identified in Hwaseong Plant Fire... All Chinese Nationals

17 Out of 23 Identified, 6 Remaining

Three additional victims' identities have been confirmed among the deceased recovered from the fire at the Arisell lithium primary battery manufacturing plant in Hwaseong, Gyeonggi Province.

On the morning of the 24th, a fire broke out at Arisel, a lithium primary battery manufacturer in Hwaseong-si, Gyeonggi Province, and the fire department took action to extinguish it. [Image source=Yonhap News]

On the 27th, the Southern Gyeonggi Provincial Police Agency's Arisell fire accident investigation headquarters stated, "As of 10:30 PM the previous day, the National Forensic Service notified us of DNA matching results for three more deceased individuals," adding, "The total number of confirmed fire victims is now 17."

The three newly identified victims are all Chinese women. This brings the total number of identified individuals to 17. On the 24th and 25th, fingerprint verification confirmed the identities of three Koreans; on the 26th, DNA collection and matching confirmed one Korean, nine Chinese, and one Laotian. Six victims remain unidentified.

Earlier, a fire broke out at 10:31 AM the previous day on the second floor of Building 3 at the Arisell plant, resulting in 23 deaths and eight people sustaining serious to moderate injuries.