Police detain suspect in massive Incheon market fire

Officials examine the charred ruins of the Hyeondae Market in Dong District, Incheon, on Sunday morning after a massive overnight fire burned down 55 of the market's 212 stores. [YONHAP]

Police on Sunday morning detained a man whom they believe started a massive overnight fire that burned down more than 50 stores in an Incheon market, local authorities said.

The Incheon Jungbu Police Precinct described the suspect only as a man in his 40s.

The fire broke out at the Hyeondae Market in Songlim-dong, a neighborhood of Incheon’s Dong District, at 11:38 p.m. the previous day, according to the Incheon Fire Department.

Police honed in on the suspect after analyzing closed-circuit television footage recorded near the market. 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.

A police official who spoke to reporters on the condition of anonymity said a request for the man’s arrest warrant will be filed after investigators discover his motives for committing the alleged arson.

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.

Local firefighting officials issued a level 2 emergency fire alert just past midnight, mobilizing emergency personnel and firefighting equipment from six nearby fire stations.

Korea operates a three-level emergency fire alert system, with level 3 being the highest.

A total of 245 firefighters and 66 water pump-equipped trucks were dispatched to the market to extinguish the fire.

The agency said that the fire was under control at 1:31 a.m. before reporting that it was completely extinguished at 2:23 a.m., approximately 2 hours and 50 minutes after it began.

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.

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