Police: "Icheon Fire Caused by Welding Sparks... Safety Rule Violations Confirmed"

Interim Investigation Results Announced After 48 Days: "Sparks Flew onto Ceiling Urethane Foam During Welding on Basement 2nd Floor"
Arrest Warrants Requested for 9 Responsible Persons, Including the Client

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Yoo Byung-don] The fire at the Icheon logistics warehouse, which claimed the lives of 38 people, was found to have originated from the failure to follow safety management rules throughout the entire process.

The Gyeonggi Southern Provincial Police Agency announced the interim investigation results on the morning of the 15th at the Icheon Police Station in Gyeonggi. Ban Gi-su, Deputy Chief of the Gyeonggi Southern Agency's 2nd Division, explained, "The direct cause of the fire was the oxygen welding work in the basement level 2 cold storage," adding, "It was also confirmed that safety management rules were not followed, such as deploying many workers to perform parallel tasks to shorten the construction period."

According to the police, the fire occurred when sparks from the oxygen welding work, which started at 8 a.m. on the day of the accident, ignited the urethane foam inside the ceiling finishing material. Initially, the fire spread in a flameless combustion form that was difficult to detect with the naked eye, but near the entrances of each zone where oxygen supply was smooth, it changed to flaming combustion, causing the flames to spread rapidly, the police reported.

The police also confirmed that about 67 workers, roughly twice the usual number, were deployed on the day of the fire, and multiple tasks were carried out simultaneously. The excessive deployment of manpower and work to shorten the construction period led to the large number of casualties.

Evidence was also found that safety management rules for fire prevention were not followed. The police confirmed the following: ▲ prohibition or failure to adjust schedules for simultaneous work involving fire and explosion risks in the same location ▲ conducting hazardous work without installing temporary fire facilities such as emergency guide lights and simple evacuation guide lines ▲ violation of essential conditions for fire-related work (two-person teams) by not taking measures such as welding fire blankets and preventing sparks and flying embers.

A police official stated, "Regarding the construction period shortening, which was the fundamental cause of the fire occurrence and damage spread, we will focus investigations on those responsible and also investigate illegal acts and additional offenses during the construction process," adding, "We recognize this incident as a serious crime and will do our best to ensure no doubts remain in the investigation."

Meanwhile, the fire occurred at around 1:32 p.m. on April 29 at the new construction site of the Han Express logistics warehouse in Moga-myeon, Icheon City. The fire resulted in 38 workers dead and 10 injured.

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