Police Raise Investigation Headquarters for Bucheon Hotel Fire with 7 Deaths... Cause Under Investigation

For Professional Fire Cause Investigation Purposes

Regarding the hotel fire in Bucheon, Gyeonggi Province, which resulted in 7 deaths, the police have elevated the investigation headquarters and launched a full-scale investigation into the cause of the fire.

On the 23rd, the forensic investigation team is moving to inspect the site of a hotel fire in Bucheon, Gyeonggi Province. The fire started around 7:40 PM yesterday, resulting in 7 deaths and 12 injuries among the guests. Photo by Jinhyung Kang aymsdream@

According to the Bucheon Wonmi Police Station on the 24th, the police changed the head of the fire accident investigation headquarters from Song Yu-cheol, chief of Wonmi Police Station, to Kim Jong-min, head of the Metropolitan Investigation Unit at the Gyeonggi Nambu Provincial Police Agency, the day before.

The police explained that the investigation headquarters was elevated to the provincial agency level, rather than being handled by a local police station, to conduct a more specialized investigation into the cause of the fire.

The investigation headquarters is composed of a total of 84 personnel, including the Criminal Mobile Unit, Violent Crimes Division, and Forensic Science Unit of the Gyeonggi Nambu Provincial Police Agency, as well as the Criminal Division of Wonmi Police Station. The investigation headquarters will investigate related parties such as the hotel owner to determine the cause of the fire and verify any negligence related to this incident.

Earlier, the police requested autopsies on the 7 deceased from the National Forensic Service and received a verbal opinion stating that "5 of the deceased are presumed to have died from carbon monoxide poisoning, and the remaining 2 are presumed to have died from falls."

The fire occurred at 7:34 p.m. on the 22nd at a hotel in Jung-dong, Bucheon, causing 19 casualties including 7 deaths and 12 injuries. Although the flames did not spread throughout the entire hotel building, the damage was severe due to the rapid spread of toxic gases inside and the absence of sprinklers in the guest rooms.