Fire Authorities: "Bucheon Hotel Fire Likely Caused by Electrical Factors in 8th Floor Room"

The fire at a hotel in Bucheon, Gyeonggi Province, which resulted in 19 casualties, is presumed to have started due to an electrical cause in a room on the 8th floor.

On the morning of the 23rd, Cho Sonho, head of the Gyeonggi Provincial Fire and Disaster Headquarters, stated at the fire site visited by Lee Sangmin, Minister of the Ministry of the Interior and Safety, "We consider an electrical cause to be the most likely."

According to the fire authorities' investigation, a guest entered room 810 before the fire broke out, smelled something burning, and requested the hotel to change the room. Based on this, the fire authorities believe the fire started from an electrical cause such as a short circuit in the vacant room. Room 810 was empty without any guests at the time of the fire.

Chief Cho also explained, "If the door of the initially ignited room had been closed when leaving, it would have been better, but the door was opened, causing the smoke to spread rapidly. Due to the motel's characteristics, with narrow corridors and high heat accumulation, guests likely had difficulty evacuating."

Minister of the Interior and Safety Lee Sang-min is entering the hotel fire site in Bucheon, Gyeonggi Province on the 23rd. The fire started around 7:40 p.m. yesterday, resulting in 7 deaths and 12 injuries among guests and others. Photo by Kang Jin-hyung aymsdream@

The police investigation headquarters are conducting a joint inspection at the fire site starting from 11 a.m. on the same day, with 31 officials including fire authorities and the National Forensic Service participating to determine the exact cause of the fire.

This fire occurred around 7:34 p.m. on the 22nd at a nine-story hotel in Jung-dong, Bucheon City, resulting in 7 deaths and 12 injuries. Currently, except for 2 seriously injured patients, the other 10 injured have all been discharged.

The flames did not spread throughout the entire hotel building, but the damage was severe due to the rapid spread of toxic gases inside and the absence of sprinklers in the rooms.

The hotel where the fire occurred was completed in 2003 and is not subject to mandatory sprinkler installation. Although the related law was amended in 2017 to require sprinklers on every floor of all new buildings with six or more floors, the installation obligation was not applied retroactively except for some medical institutions.

On the 23rd, the forensic investigation team is moving to conduct an on-site inspection at the hotel fire scene in Bucheon, Gyeonggi Province. The fire started around 7:40 PM yesterday evening, resulting in 7 deaths, including guests, and 12 injuries. Photo by Jinhyung Kang aymsdream@