SOUTH KOREA Seoul, fire in a lithium battery factory: dozens dead

All three floors of the Aricell factory in Hwaseong were engulfed in flames this morning. The death toll, 22, is still provisional and there are many missing. Most of the people who died in the fire, which occurred for unknown reasons, were Chinese. Slowness in the intervention of firefighters due to the difficulty in controlling the fire in lithium batteries. The government called an emergency meeting.

Rome (/Agencies) – At least 22 people died in the fire that broke out today around 10:30 a.m., after a strong explosion at the Aricell lithium battery factory, in Hwaseong, 45 kilometers south of Seoul. There are 23 people missing and it is feared that the death toll may rise. Most of the dead workers were Chinese nationals, local firefighters said, and there was also one Laotian. The fire, caused by the explosion of a series of lithium batteries, occurred in a warehouse containing 35,000 batteries. It was only able to be controlled around 3:00 p.m. and it has been difficult to identify the bodies.

In the early hours of the day, before the fire spread out of control, the flames had already caused the death of one worker and injured three others. The first victim died, after being taken to the hospital, from cardiac arrest. It is difficult to calculate the exact number of workers on site because the daily attendance record has been destroyed. It took firefighters about four hours to control the flames. The slowness of the intervention was also due to the difficulty in acting against the lithium battery fire with conventional extinguishing methods. Those from Aricell are intended for sensors and radio communication devices. The fire affected all three floors of the reinforced concrete building, with a total area of ​​approximately 2,300 square meters. The causes remain unknown.

Television images of the plant at the beginning of the tragedy showed small explosions and sparks. The live broadcast covered the work of firefighters as they sprayed the damaged steel and concrete building. Parts of the upper level could be seen to have collapsed and large chunks of the building appeared to have been thrown into the street by a large explosion. Aerial images showed huge clouds of smoke rising from the structure. The Yonhap News Agency reports that a witness, who escaped from the second floor of the plant, testified at the Hwaseong fire station that at the time the fire broke out, combustion occurred in a lithium cell, causing an explosion. Another witness testified Reuters which saw firefighters carrying out of the factory six bodies of workers who could not escape due to the great speed with which the flames spread. According to Aricell data, there were a total of 48 employees at the Hwaseong factory.

In the afternoon, the government convened an emergency meeting of the Central Command for Disaster and Security Countermeasures to discuss the necessary arrangements to minimize the consequences of the fire and the number of victims. During the meeting, Minister of the Interior and Security Lee Sang-min called on all relevant government agencies and local governments to mobilize all available resources and personnel to put out the flames and rescue survivors. Previously, President Yoon Suk Yeol had instructed Minister Lee to make every effort to try to save the missing, mobilizing all available human resources and equipment. The issue of workplace safety is being raised again in South Korea, a major industrial economy, which has struggled to improve after suffering several accidents, many of which are attributed to widespread negligence.