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Tengrinews.kz – A major fire broke out at a factory in South Korea. As a result of the incident, two foreign workers were reported missing. According to some media reports, one of them is a citizen of Kazakhstan, Yonhap News reports.
What happened
Local media, citing the Yonhap news agency, report that the fire started on 30 January at about 2:55 PM at a wet wipes and diaper manufacturing plant in Eumseong County, North Chungcheong Province. At the time of the fire, there were 83 workers at the facility, 81 of whom managed to evacuate.
According to the media, after the evacuation two foreign employees were listed as missing – a Kazakh citizen around 50 years old and a Nepalese citizen around 20 years old. Search operations began after the fire was partially brought under control.
Some outlets also reported that the missing workers were a 50-year-old citizen of Uzbekistan and a 20-year-old citizen of Nepal. However, the Dunyo agency clarified that reports of the death of an Uzbek citizen in South Korea had not been confirmed.
At about 12:39 AM on 31 January, firefighters found the body of one of the missing workers near a staircase on the second floor of the building. The deceased has not yet been identified.
It is noted that the fire was fully extinguished only about 21 hours later – at 12:08 PM on 31 January. Firefighting efforts were complicated by structural collapses and a large amount of flammable materials on the factory premises.
Media report that the South Korean authorities are continuing the search for the second missing worker and investigating the causes of the fire.
The Tengrinews.kz editorial office has requested comment from Kazakhstan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
