Nearly 20 people die in a fire at a lithium battery factory in South Korea

June 24 (EUROPA PRESS) –

Around 20 people have died due to a fire this Monday in a lithium battery factory south of the South Korean capital, Seoul, as confirmed by firefighters, who have indicated that the event has resulted in three wounded.

The firefighters have indicated that so far they have found about 20 bodies during the search and rescue work, shortly after indicating that one person had died and 23 had been reported missing due to the fire, so it is feared that the The number of fatalities may continue to increase.

The fire broke out around 10:30 a.m. (local time) in a factory in Hwaseong, about 45 kilometers south of Seoul, although firefighters managed to control the flames in the area more than four hours later, where they also burned. Several explosions have been recorded, as reported by the South Korean news agency Yonhap.

The work to fight the flames has faced problems due to the peculiarities derived from the fire of the lithium batteries, without the causes of the fire having been determined for now. A witness has reported that one of the batteries had exploded, causing the fire.

The event has led the Government to call an emergency meeting of the Center for Disasters and Security Measures to discuss how to deal with the situation, while the Minister of the Interior, Lee Sang Min, has called on all official agencies to mobilize the resources available to fight the flames and rescue those affected.