Photo Credit: Reuters
South Korea sees deaths of at least 22 people as a fire blazed at a lithium battery factory on Monday. Most of them are foreign nationals.
The blaze broke out at around 10:31 a.m. local time at a facility operated by battery maker Aircel in Hwaseong, Gyeonggi Province, about 50 kilometers southwest of Seoul.
It was extinguished around 3:10 p.m, and firefighters were able to enter the factory, said Hwaseong Fire Department official Kim Jin-young in a briefing.
As a lithium fire can react intensely with water, firefighters had to use dry sand to extinguish the blaze, which took several hours to get under control.
Among the dead, two were Koreans and 20 were foreigners, the majority of whom were Chinese nationals, Kim added in a later briefing.
Fire official Kim Jin-young said 18 Chinese, one Laotian and two South Korean workers had been confirmed as among the dead. A final body had yet to be identified, and there are fears at least one more person may be missing.
Rescue workers recovered a number of burned bodies, Kim said, and one person died due to cardiac arrest.
At least two people were seriously injured with burns and five suffered minor injuries, Kim said.
The factory’s worker’s directory was burned, making the victim identification process difficult, Kim added.
South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol ordered the Interior and Safety Ministry and the head of the fire department to “make all-out efforts” to rescue people by “mobilizing all available personnel and equipment.”
Lithium-ion batteries are found in many popular consumer products, powering laptops, cameras, smartphones and electric vehicles. But a combination of manufacturer issues, misuse and aging batteries can heighten the risk from the batteries, which use flammable materials.
South Korea is a leading producer of lithium batteries, which are used in many items from electric vehicles to laptops.
Lewis Musonye
