Firefighters put out a fire on a Korean Air plane on the runway of Haneda Airport in Tokyo on May 27, 2016, in this photo released by Kyodo News. The left wing of the plane bound for Seoul caught fire before takeoff, but all 319 passengers and crew were safely evacuated, according to the Japanese news agency. (Yonhap)
Via a reader tip comes this dramatic rescue story of US servicemembers saving a Nigerian family from a burning building outside of Osan AB:
The scenario, captured in mobile phone footage, is a mother’s nightmare. On the fourth story of a burning building in Pyeongtaek, South Korea, a woman dangles her baby out the window as smoke billows from two floors below. Onlookers scream and wave their hands as the 30-year-old mother holds out the terrified infant — the child’s legs kicking furiously — before dropping her to the crowd. Another child follows, then another, before the woman herself leaps from the window — the only escape route. Remarkably, all survived without injury Saturday, caught safely on blankets in a rescue effort orchestrated by passing U.S. service personnel stationed at nearby Osan Air Base.
U.S. Air Force Master Sgt. Daniel Raimondo told CNN he was walking to dinner Saturday when he saw clouds of smoke and set off in that direction. On assessing the scene, he and a colleague discussed how to help and resolved to get some blankets from a nearby store. They corralled others to help hold the blankets, then tried to persuade the mother to drop her children to safety. First Sgt. Melanie Scott said the woman was understandably reluctant to let go of her children, ages 1, 3 and 4.
“You could tell she was scared. She didn’t want to.” Raimondo said that the “last baby was the most difficult in my eyes, she just wouldn’t let her go for some reason.” He said he repeatedly begged the mother: “Please just throw the baby down!” “I remember her screaming (at) the baby, ‘I love you, I love you. …’ Next thing you know she dropped the baby.” [CNN]
You can read the rest at the link, but quick thinking and great job by everyone involved in this rescue effort.
This is a pretty freak fire that has unfortunately taken the life of a Seoul firefighter:
The Seohae Grand Bridge, a major artery connecting southwestern cities and Seoul, was shut down after three of its cables were damaged in a fire Thursday evening.
The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport announced on Friday that it will suspend use of the bridge through Dec. 24 to replace the cables.
Authorities said one firefighter was killed and two others wounded when they were hit by a snapped cable while battling the blaze.
An official of the ministry said lightning was the cause of the fire.
“Despite the inconvenience, our decision was made for the public’s safety,” the official said at a televised press conference. [Joong Ang Ilbo]
This provided photo shows black smoke billowing from a food-making plant in Dongducheon, Gyeonggi Province, north of Seoul, on Sept. 17, 2015, as the three-story building is engulfed by a fire. No casualties were reported. (Yonhap)
In this photo, exclusively obtained and released on June 12, 2015 by local radio station BBS, black smoke and flames billow from a bridge between the 43rd floors of Koryo Hotel in the North Korean capital of Pyongyang on the previous day. The fire had broken out at the hotel frequented by foreigners, without any information being provided on casualties or property damage, reports said on June 12, 2015. The fire appears to have been extinguished, according to The Associated Press. (Yonhap)
I wonder if the North Koreans intentionally set this fire or not?
The Dora Observatory in Paju, north of Seoul, is enveloped in smoke after fire broke out in the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) in North Korea and spread to the South Korean side, Monday. No injuries or damage were reported. / Yonhap
A fire broke out on North Korea’s side of the heavily guarded demilitarized zone (DMZ) on Monday afternoon, South Korean authorities said.
The fire spread through the barbed-wire fence separating the two Koreas at 1:15 p.m., reaching the Dora Observatory in Paju City, Gyeonggi Province.
“The fire started in North Korean territory and spread south,” an official said.
The northern region of Gyeonggi Province recently issued a drought warning.
Seven fire engines and about 50 firemen fought the blaze. [Korea Times]
Here is another preventable deadly safety related accident in South Korea:
Five people, including three children, died and two others were injured in a tent fire at a camping site in Incheon, a port city west of Seoul, early Sunday, police and fire officials said.
The fire broke out around 1:20 a.m. inside a 16 square-meter tent set up at a camping ground close to a beach on Ganghwa Island of Incheon, according to the officials. Those killed included a 37-year-old father, identified only by his last name Lee, and two of his sons, aged 11 and six, they said. Lee’s middle school friend, surnamed Cheon, and his seven-year-old son were also killed inside the same tent. [Yonhap]
An arrest warrant has been requested for a 53-year-old man who allegedly caused a massive fire at an apartment building in a Seoul suburb that killed four people and injured scores of others, police said Tuesday.
The man, identified only by his surname Kim, faces charges of manslaughter, assault without intent and causing a fire without intent, the Uijeongbu Police Station in this city just north of Seoul said.
Police believe the fire at the 10-story Daebong Green Apartment on Jan. 10 started when Kim held a flame up to the ignition of his motorcycle parked outside the apartment. He reportedly did this to take out the key that had frozen inside the ignition.
What Kim did not notice, however, was that he was also melting the sheaths of the ignition line, which created a spark and quickly developed into an inferno that injured 126 people, police said. [Yonhap]
You can read more at the link, but yet another major disaster caused by a lack of public safety awareness.
This is a horrible apartment fire that happened in Uijongbu:
UIJEONGBU, South Korea, Jan. 10 (Yonhap) — A big fire that broke out Saturday morning at a 10-story apartment building in Uijeongbu, north of Seoul, leaving three dead and 101 people injured, has been brought under control, the police said.
Among the injured who were taken to the hospital, five were in critical condition, they said.
The fire is reported to have erupted at 9:25 a.m. from a car parked on the ground floor of the building, preventing residents from evacuating through the front entrance.
The fire was put under control at about 11:40 a.m. after spreading to two other buildings.
The police and firefighters are now focusing on finding the cause of the fire, saying they are investigating the possibility of arson but are open to all possibilities. [Yonhap]
Who creates a building to barbeque in with a straw roof, one exit, and no fire extinguisher? Well a guy in Damyang did with deadly results:
Four university students were killed and six others sustained injuries in a fire at a guest house in Damyang, South Jeolla Province, Saturday.
The fire erupted in a hut in the guest house compound, where some guests were having a barbeque.
A survivor said the fire began after one of the guests attempted to extinguish a charcoal fire by pouring water onto it, which caused sparks to reach the flammable ceiling.
Police said the hut was built with flammable materials ― dried grass for the roof, a wooden floor and plastic walls.
Twenty-six guests were inside the hut grilling meat at the time of the incident. All were students from Dongshin University in Naju, South Jeolla Province.
Another survivor said there wasn’t a fire extinguisher in the hut, which is used by guests for barbeques.
“I had to bring one from elsewhere, but even that stopped working after 30 seconds,” he was quoted as saying by a police officer.
Police suspect poor safety inspections are to blame for the fire which started at 9:45 p.m. and lasted 50 minutes. [Korea Times]
You can read more at the link, but this is just another example of poor safety awareness in Korea. Hopefully the increased media attention on this subject in Korea will improve safety awareness to reduce incidents like this from happening.
