20130114 Korea Fire kills 4 at Christian sanctuary
Korea Jan 14 2013 “Building” “Other”
Dead : dead 1 to 4 Burnout : 1 to 29 Injured : injured 0 or unknown
Fire kills 4 at Christian sanctuary
Updated: 2013-01-14-19:08
A fire erupted at a church prayer center in Gwangju, Gyeonggi Province, leaving three women and a man dead, according to police Monday.
Gwangju police said the fire broke out at around 9:50 a.m. and swept through the basement floor of a four-story building that was exclusively used for prayer.
They added that firefighters put out the fire 15 minutes after it erupted.
Investigators are looking into the exact cause of the blaze.
The basement floor was divided into a number of rooms, including a living room and a kitchen.
Two bodies were found in the kitchen and the other two were in the living room
One of the victims was identified as a 53-year-old woman, surnamed Na, who owned the building, according to police.
“A passer-by who first reported the case said there was a sound of an explosion,” an investigator said. “We believe they were preparing for a prayer meeting and failed to escape from the scene.”
Police suspect that inappropriate use of a liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) stove and the lack of fire safety maintenance may have caused the disaster.
The law requires a building used for religious purposes to be equipped with a fire sprinkler system if it has a floor area of 300 square meters or bigger.
Each of the four stories at the prayer center, however, was smaller in size and did not have any sprinklers, fire extinguishers, or fire detectors, according to police.
Investigators added the city’s fire service excluded the building from its regular fire safety-checks held every two years.
City officials visited the scene and called for a prompt probe to find out the cause.
“I’d like to express my deepest sympathy to the bereaved family members of the victims,” said Mayor Kang Woon-tae. “We should make sure that such a disaster never happens again.”
Websource:THE KOREA TIMES
http://koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/nation/2013/01/113_128834.html
Date:2013-01-14
Country:Korea