Building owner and manager held over fatal fire

SEOUL: South Korean police have arrested the owner and manager of a building where 29 people died in a fire last week, accusing the pair of multiple safety lapses, including blocked exits and malfunctioning sprinkler systems.

A fire ripped through an eightstorey high-rise in the small city of Jecheon last Thursday. At least 20 of the victims were women who were overcome by toxic fumes in a second-floor sauna.

Jecheon police only identified the owner by his last name, Lee, and the manager by his last name, Kim.

Both men were in custody in Jecheon after being arrested on Sunday, police said yesterday.

Lee faces two charges of violating fire safety regulations and committing involuntary homicide by professional negligence, while Kim also faces the involuntary homicide charge.

If convicted of involuntary homicide, Lee and Kim could face up to five years in prison or 20 million won (RM75,620) in fines.

“The sprinkler system on the building’s first floor did not work properly when the fire erupted,” said a police detective, who asked not to be named as he was not authorised to speak about the ongoing investigation.

“If the sprinkler system worked, the fire probably would not have spread as fast as it did.”

Photos released by the Yonhap news agency showed a smokestained stairwell and a fire exit filled with shelves and supplies on the second floor, where most of the deaths occurred.

“The emergency exit on the building’s second floor was blocked by iron shelves and other miscellaneous items,” the detective said.

Officials were still investigating the cause of the conflagration. According to police, Kim and Lee had denied reports that they were trying to remove ice on the ceiling of the first floor, where the fire appeared to have originated, but changed their statements after police confronted them with evidence.

The Korea JoongAng Daily newspaper reported yesterday that Lee had at one point told police he did not alert the women in the sauna as they were undressed

Anger mounted over the weekend at reports of shoddy construction, broken doors, blocked roads and other problems that may have contributed to the deaths.