Gyeongnam Police Rescue 80s Man Barehanded from Burning House: "Comforting the Victim is Important"

At around 8:33 PM on the 10th, a fire broke out in a detached house in Yonghyeon-myeon, Sacheon-si, Gyeongnam.

At the time, Police Lieutenant Jo Yeonje from the Sanam Police Substation of Sacheon Police Station was off duty and had just returned home after taking a walk with his wife.

While resting at his home, a neighbor woman came and said, "There is smoke coming from that house."

Lieutenant Jo realized it was more than just smoke and told his wife to call 119, then rushed to the house.

The house on fire was inhabited by an elderly mother in her 80s and her son in his 60s.

A fire broke out at a detached house in Yonghyeon-myeon, Sacheon-si, Gyeongnam, and firefighters are extinguishing it.
[Photo by Gyeongnam Fire Headquarters]

Lieutenant Jo broke a window instead of the front door, which was inaccessible due to the spreading fire, and entered the house. He supported the elderly woman who was coughing from inhaling smoke in the master bedroom and helped her out.

For safety, he tried to take the elderly mother to his own home about 30 meters away from the scene, but she clung to Lieutenant Jo, saying her son was in the small room.

Knowing that the elderly woman lived with her son, Lieutenant Jo attempted to enter the house twice to rescue him, but the fire was too intense to go inside.

The fire was extinguished by the arriving firefighters around 9:31 PM, but it burned the interior of the house and claimed the son's life.

Lieutenant Jo said, "The gas exploded and the flames were so fierce that I could not enter, so I deeply regret not being able to save the son," adding, "People talk as if I did something special, but that is not important; what matters is offering comfort to the elderly woman who lost her son."

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