[VIDEO] Moment blaze breaks out at Hwaseong factory fire that left 23 dead

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[VIDEO] Moment blaze breaks out at Hwaseong factory fire that left 23 dead

Published: 26 Jun. 2024, 17:35 Updated: 26 Jun. 2024, 18:06

TREVOR TREHARNE
trevor.treharne@joongang.co.kr

Footage from inside the battery factory in Hwaseong, Gyeonggi, where 23 workers lost their lives in a fire, has shown the moment the deadly blaze ignited.

The 44-second clip begins with what appears to be a box of batteries on the right-hand side of the frame bursting into smoke. Factory workers react quickly, attempting to separate the smoking boxes. However, more batteries begin to explode as the factory floor fills with smoke.

Footage from inside the battery factory in Hwaseong, Gyeonggi, where 23 workers lost their lives in a fire shows a worker using a fire extinguisher in an attempt to control the blaze. [SCREEN CAPTURE]

The video then shows a worker using a fire extinguisher in an attempt to control the exploding batteries but they are forced back across the factory floor as the blaze expands.

The footage was taken by a CCTV camera on the second floor of the factory's third wing, where all 23 fatalities so far were discovered.

The nation's worst chemical factory accident this year occurred Monday morning when the fire broke out at a plant owned by lithium battery manufacturer Aricell in Hwaseong, Gyeonggi. The fire resulted in the deaths of 23 workers — 18 foreigners and five Koreans — and injuries to eight others.

As of Wednesday morning, only three of the 23 sets of remains pulled from the factory had been identified. The remaining bodies are undergoing autopsies to collect and match DNA.

BY TREVOR TREHARNE [trevor.treharne@joongang.co.kr]