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19-year-old student dies in South Gyeongsang pig farm fire

Published: 20 May. 2025, 15:35 Updated: 21 May. 2025, 14:13

[JOONGANG ILBO]

A fire that broke out at a pig farm on Monday afternoon killed one university student who was undergoing training at the farm.

"There is a fire on the third floor of the farm building,” reported an employee at a farm in Yulgok-myeon, Hapcheon County in South Gyeongsang, to emergency services at around 5 p.m. on Monday. The fire also killed all 13,000 pigs inside the farm.

The Hapcheon Fire Station and other fire authorities arrived at the scene at 5:17 p.m. and completely extinguished the fire by 9:35 p.m. that evening.

The farm where the fire occurred had 18 employees raising about 13,000 pigs.

At the time, two students, including a 19-year-old who was majoring in livestock-related studies at a university in North Jeolla, had been undergoing training since March that was scheduled to continue until November. The 19-year-old was found dead on the third floor of the farm.

"We have not yet investigated the initial point of ignition, the cause of the fire or why the student was unable to escape,” a police official said. “A joint forensic inspection will be conducted at the site on Wednesday with the National Forensic Service, and an autopsy will be performed on the student’s body."

Translated from the JoongAng Ilbo using generative AI and edited by Korea JoongAng Daily staff.
BY JUNG SI-NAE [[email protected]]