Suspect set multiple fires in, near Incheon market: Police

Vice Minister of the Interior and Safety Han Chang-seob, left, and Incheon Mayor Yoo Jeong-bok inspect the charred ruins of Hyundae Market in Dong District, Incheon on Sunday. [YONHAP]

A man detained Sunday morning on suspicion of starting a massive overnight blaze that burned down more than 50 stores in an Incheon market set fire to five different locations inside and near the market, according to police.

The suspect, whom the Incheon Jungbu Police Precinct described only as a man in his 40s, is accused of starting three fires inside the Hyeondae Market in Songnim-dong, Dong District, at around 11:38 p.m. the previous day.

Police said closed-circuit television (CCTV) footage recorded by street cameras outside the market showed the man also setting fire to garbage awaiting collection next to a church outside the market, then to a small cargo truck parked nearby.

Camera footage showed the man starting all five fires within a 10-minute time span, according to police.

Based on the surveillance recordings, officials said they believed the man only used a lighter and no other flammable materials to set the fires.

Investigators honed in on the suspect by following his movements on CCTV footage recorded in the vicinity. The fire began at a time when the market is usually closed.

Police said they found the suspect at his home at 9:50 a.m. and immediately detained him for questioning.

According to a police official who spoke to reporters on condition of anonymity, the man told investigators that he was "extremely drunk and has no recollection of going either to the market or how he got home."

A request for the man's arrest warrant will be filed after investigators discover his motives for committing the alleged arson, police said.

The Incheon Fire Department has not yet reported any casualties from the fire but estimated that 55 out of a total of 205 stores in the market were destroyed or scorched by the flames.

Park Gi-hyeon, chair of the Hyeondae Market Merchants' Association, told Yonhap that he ran to the market around midnight after hearing that it was on fire.

"I checked to make sure that there were no casualties. Luckily, the vendors who usually sleep inside the market had already evacuated," Park said.

He also said that one of the locations inside the market where the fire started housed many plastic wares, which he said "emitted noxious fumes as they burned, which likely tipped off people who normally sleep inside the market to flee."

Local officials said that firefighting personnel were dispatched quickly to the blaze because the automated fire alarm system inside the market was triggered immediately after the fire broke out.

A total of 245 firefighters and 66 water pump-equipped trucks were dispatched to the fire, which was completely extinguished at 2:23 a.m., approximately 2 hours and 50 minutes after it began.

The fire has cut off the market's electricity supply, leading to concerns among vendors that refrigerated food items may soon spoil.

Following his visit to the market with Vice Minister of the Interior and Safety Han Chang-seob, Incheon Mayor Yoo Jeong-bok said the city would look into ways of supporting merchants affected by the disaster, including restoring power, modernizing the market's facilities and distributing emergency relief of up to 70 million won ($54,000) per vendor.

BY MICHAEL LEE [lee.junhyuk@joongang.co.kr]