One Month After Icheon Logistics Warehouse Fire... Bereaved Families Take to the Streets

Break the Chain of Outsourcing Risk
Rally Today in Front of Cheongwadae
Demand Truth Investigation and Government Measures
Call for Accountability and Punishment for Serious Accidents

At the press conference held in front of the Blue House fountain on the 29th, titled 'Press Conference Urging Punishment of Han Express, Responsible for the Serious Accident at the Icheon Logistics Warehouse,' the bereaved family of the victims is shedding tears.
[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Song Seung-yoon] It has been a month since the fire at the logistics warehouse in Icheon, Gyeonggi Province, which claimed the lives of 38 workers, on the 29th, but the investigation into the cause of the fire, as well as the punishment of those responsible and compensation issues, remain stalled. The bereaved families took to the streets urging a thorough investigation and government measures.

The bereaved families of the serious accident at the Hanixpress logistics warehouse held a "Press Conference Urging Punishment and Condemnation of Those Responsible for the Icheon Fire at Hanixpress" in front of the Blue House from 10:30 a.m. that day. At the press conference, the families demanded a ban on the "outsourcing of risk" and urged the government to provide responsible answers regarding the accident. Starting with this press conference, the families planned to visit the Hanixpress headquarters in Seocho-gu, Seoul, the logistics warehouse fire site in Moga-myeon, Icheon, and the joint memorial altar in sequence to hold press conferences and memorial services.

The fire occurred around 1 p.m. on the 29th of last month at the new construction site of the Hanixpress logistics warehouse in Moga-myeon, Icheon, resulting in 38 deaths and 10 injuries. Since the fire, the police and fire authorities have focused their investigative efforts on determining the cause of the fire for over a month. However, the exact cause of the fire has not yet been identified. The police have conducted four joint on-site inspections with seven organizations, including the fire authorities and the National Forensic Service.

At the joint inspection site, an oxygen welder, cutting tools, and electric saws were found, confirming that welding work had been carried out before the fire. It is currently presumed that sparks generated during this work met with vaporized substances, causing an explosion. The police and related agencies plan to conduct experiments by creating a model replicating the environment of the logistics warehouse where the accident occurred to reenact the situation and determine the exact cause of the fire.

Separately, the police are also investigating whether there were any violations by the construction company or the project implementer during the warehouse construction process. Currently, about ten construction company officials, including those from Hanixpress and the construction company Geonwoo, have been criminally charged and are under investigation. Lee Jae-gap, Minister of Employment and Labor, said at a meeting of heads of public institutions under the Ministry of Labor, "Today marks one month since the Icheon fire accident," adding, "The government is carefully reviewing why the measures taken so far to prevent fires are not working properly in industrial sites and what deficiencies exist in related systems, and is preparing countermeasures."

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