"Clapping Hands and Laughing Loudly as Someone Is Dying"
During the fire incident at a hotel in Bucheon, Gyeonggi Province, which resulted in 19 casualties, there are shocking eyewitness accounts that someone was seen clapping and even dancing with a smile while guests were desperately jumping out of windows to escape the flames.
On the 23rd, Channel A released an interview with eyewitness A. A explained, “From my perspective, at first, there was definitely only smoke. The smoke spread inside first, and later it turned into fire. I am 100% sure. The flames rose significantly only after the smoke had been coming up for a while.” He added, “I don’t know if the fire siren sounded while the fire was rising or after, but I remember the siren went off quite close in time, later on.”
When reporters asked about the situation where guests jumped out of windows onto air mattresses, he said, “Honestly, I didn’t want to say this in an interview, but there was someone dancing.” He raised his voice, saying, “They were clapping and smiling watching that. That’s just not right.” He continued, “A few men did that. There are many other witnesses besides me. Some were laughing, chatting, giggling, and even dancing, a few of them. They were young people, and one had a lot of tattoos on both arms. That’s just not acceptable. People died.”
The fire occurred around 7:34 PM on the 22nd at a hotel in Jung-dong, Bucheon, Gyeonggi Province. The Bucheon Fire Station’s first response team arrived at the scene at about 7:43 PM, just 4 minutes after the report, but flames were already visible from afar on the 7th floor of the hotel, and smoke had spread inside the building. Seven guests aged between their 20s and 50s died, and 12 were injured. Among the seven deceased, two died after jumping onto air mattresses.
The Cyber Crime Investigation Unit of the Gyeonggi Southern Provincial Police Agency has begun a preliminary investigation into those who posted critical comments online about the victims and survivors involved in this incident. It has been reported that many speculative posts about the victims and survivors using the hotel on weekdays were posted on online communities and other platforms.
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