Last Year Fire Deaths Decreased, Elderly Proportion Increased... 43% Aged 65 and Over

File photo / Yonhap News

[Asia Economy Reporter Osangdo] Last year, 4 out of 10 fire-related deaths were elderly people aged 65 or older.

According to the Fire Agency on the 29th, there were 40,102 fire incidents last year, resulting in 2,515 casualties.

Among the 285 deaths, the largest age group was elderly people aged 65 or older, with 121 people (42.5%). Although this number decreased from 134 elderly deaths (36.3%) in the previous year (2018), the proportion actually increased.

The overall causes of death were multiple factors including smoke, toxic gas inhalation, and burns at 119 people (41.8%), smoke and toxic gas inhalation at 68 people (23.9%), and burns at 37 people (13.0%), in that order.

By location, residential facilities accounted for the most deaths at 159 people (55.8%), followed by automobiles at 41 people (14.4%), forests at 17 people (6.0%), and factories/warehouses at 15 people (5.3%).

For elderly deaths aged 65 or older, the proportion in residential facilities was even higher at 75 people (62.0%), followed by forests at 13 people (10.7%), automobiles at 9 people (7.4%), and medical welfare facilities at 7 people (5.8%).

The Fire Agency explained, "The elderly are more vulnerable to fires as the number of single-person households is increasing, and evacuation may be delayed if they have chronic illnesses."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.