20180121 Arsonist arrested for motel fire
Korea Jan 21 2018 “Houses”
Dead : dead 5 to 9 Burnout : 1 to 29 Injured : injured 1 to 9
Arsonist arrested for motel fire
Updated: 2018-01-21 18:49
The prosecution has arrested a 53-year old man, Sunday, who started a fire at a motel in Jongno after the owner refused to phone a call-girl for him at 2 a.m., Saturday. The fire killed six guests and injured four others sleeping there.
Police sought an arrest warrant for the man, identified by his surname Yoo, through prosecution Saturday, and a court approved it Sunday.
The man turned himself in after the blaze and is currently in police custody.
Officers who were at the crime scene one hour prior to the incident said Yoo was drunk but could communicate and was sitting quietly in front of the motel when they first arrived. The police officers took Yoo to a subway station to go home.
Instead, Yoo bought 10 liters of gasoline at a nearby gas station and went back to the motel. Then he poured the gasoline on the floor before setting it alight.
The fire was reported to authorities at 3:07am and 50 fire engines along with 180 fire fighters were dispatched to the site.
Four people were found dead on the first floor and one was found dead on the second. The deceased victims, two men and three women, ranged in age from their 20s to 50s. The three women were later identified as a mother and her two daughters.
Among the four injured people, two were in a serious condition and had to receive CPR but are now in a stable condition. Two guests had reportedly been living in the motel for two years; while one had been staying there for three days.
The police said there were so many casualties because it was hard for fire trucks to access the motel, which was located in an ally and the road was too narrow.
Another reason for the large number of deaths and injuries was that the building was old and had many combustible materials such as blankets and wooden doors. Also the motel did not have emergency fire sprinklers installed and the gasoline-induced fire made it harder for extinguishers brought to the site by neighbors to contain the fire.
The police said the man admitted to the crime.
“I thought of prostitution after drinking alcohol and I knew motels were gathered in that area, so I just went into the first one I saw,” Yoo told the police during questioning.
Yoo asked the owner to call a prostitute for him but the owner refused and they got involved in a quarrel.
Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon went to inspect the site, expressing his condolences over the deaths on Twitter.
Web Source: Korea Times
http://koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/nation/2018/01/113_242805.html