8 People Responsible for the 'Icheon Logistics Warehouse Fire' That Killed 38 Detained

Construction workers from across the country held a press conference on the 12th in front of the Government Seoul Office in Jongno-gu, Seoul, to mark the start of a memorial action by the Construction Workers' Union for the industrial accident at Han Express Nam Icheon logistics warehouse, urging the enactment of the Serious Accident Punishment Act and other measures. Photo by Kim Hyun-min kimhyun81@

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Gwan-joo] Eight individuals responsible for the fire accident at a logistics warehouse construction site in Icheon, Gyeonggi Province, which resulted in 38 deaths, have been arrested.

The Gyeonggi Nambu Provincial Police Agency, investigating the case, announced on the 24th, "Arrest warrants have been issued for a total of eight people, including three from the construction company, two from the supervision team, and three from subcontractors."

Judge Kim Seung-gon of the Suwon District Court Yeoju Branch, in charge of the warrants, stated the reason for issuing the warrants was "concerns over flight risk and evidence destruction." However, the arrest warrant for one official from the client company Han Express, who was also subject to a warrant request, was dismissed.

A total of 24 people have been booked in connection with this fire, including five executives and employees of Han Express, three executives and employees of the construction company Geonwoo, six from the supervision team, and four from subcontractors. The police applied for arrest warrants for nine of them, and the prosecution accepted and filed the request with the court.

Earlier, at around 1:32 PM on April 29, a fire broke out at the new construction site of the Han Express logistics warehouse in Moga-myeon, Icheon City, resulting in the tragic deaths of 38 workers and injuries to 10 others.

On the 15th of this month, the police revealed in an interim investigation report that the fire started when welding sparks ignited urethane foam installed on the warehouse wall, and that overall safety management throughout the construction process was inadequate. The police continue to investigate illegal activities and additional offenses during the construction process.

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