Fire in Busan Apartment... Elementary School Sisters Die

Fire Breaks Out 20 Minutes After Parents Leave Home
Children Taken to Hospital but Ultimately Pronounced Dead
Police: "We Will Investigate the Cause of the Fire with Fire Department"

A fire broke out at an apartment in Gijang County, Busan, around 10:58 PM on the 2nd, leaving the house blackened by soot. Busan Fire Department

Late at night, a fire broke out in an apartment in Busan, resulting in the deaths of two children who were inside the home.

According to the Busan Fire Department on July 3, an unexplained fire occurred at around 10:58 PM the previous day on the sixth floor of an apartment building located in Gijang-eup, Gijang County, Busan. It is reported that the apartment manager called 119 after a fire alarm sounded and black smoke was seen.

Firefighters who responded to the scene forcibly opened the door to the apartment and found two sisters, aged 7 and 11, unconscious inside. They were transported to the hospital. One was found in front of the inner door near the entrance, and the other was found in front of the living room balcony. The sisters were taken to a nearby university hospital but were ultimately pronounced dead.

It was confirmed that the parents were not at home at the time. The fire reportedly broke out while the parents were out, having left the children alone about 20 minutes earlier.

About 100 residents evacuated due to the fire. The blaze was extinguished in about 35 minutes, but most of the apartment's interior was destroyed, resulting in property damage estimated at around 28 million won by the fire department.

The apartment building was completed in March 2007 and reportedly did not have a sprinkler system installed. The building has one basement level and 13 floors above ground, and it is reported that the automatic fire detection system functioned properly that day.

A police official stated, "We plan to determine the exact cause of the fire and other details through a joint investigation with the fire department at 10 AM today."

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