On the morning of the 17th, smoke was rising from a fire at Kumho Tire's Gwangju factory in Songjeong-dong, Gwangsan-gu, Gwangju. Photo by Yonhap News
Kumho Tire's Gwangju factory, where a large fire broke out, has completely suspended production.
A Kumho Tire representative stated on the 17th, "Around 400 employees who were scheduled to work today evacuated the factory," and added, "Production will be completely halted until the situation is resolved."
Regarding casualties, Kumho Tire reported that, as of now, one person has been confirmed injured. Fire authorities also announced that they rescued one injured person after searching inside the building.
The injured individual, a male employee in his twenties, was transported to the hospital for treatment and is not in life-threatening condition.
The fire broke out at approximately 7:11 a.m. on the 17th in the compounding process area of Kumho Tire's Gwangju factory in Songjeong-dong, Gwangsan-gu, Gwangju. It has been tentatively determined that the fire started when a spark occurred in equipment used to preheat raw rubber within the compounding process.
Fire authorities raised the response level from Level 1 to Level 2 at 7:59 a.m. and are currently working to extinguish the fire.
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