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New mother dies in fall trying to escape Osan building fire

Published: 20 Oct. 2025, 18:36

A fire broke out around 5:35 a.m. on Oct. 20 on the second floor of a five-story building in Gwol-dong, Osan, Gyeonggi, resulting in one death and numerous injuries. [YONHAP]

A woman died after falling while trying to escape a fire at a mixed-use building in Osan, Gyeonggi, early Monday morning. The new mother had handed her two-month-old baby to a neighbor through a window just moments before the accident.

The fire broke out around 5:35 a.m. on the second floor of a five-story building in Gwol-dong, Osan, according to Yonhap News Agency.

The woman lived with her husband and newborn on the fifth floor. When she realized there was a fire, she and her husband grabbed their baby and opened the window, calling loudly for help.

The building was located less than a meter (3.3 feet) away from the neighboring structure. Residents in the adjacent building heard their cries and opened their windows in response.

The woman and her husband first passed their baby through the window to a resident in the neighboring building, who safely received the infant. The woman’s husband then managed to cross over himself. She tried to follow, but she reportedly slipped and fell before fully climbing through the window.

She was taken to Ajou University Hospital with serious injuries but died around 10:40 a.m., roughly five hours after the incident.
Police believe the couple attempted to escape through the window after thick smoke from the second-floor fire blocked the stairwell. Authorities suspect they prioritized the baby’s safety due to the risks posed by toxic fumes to infants.

“We haven't been able to take a formal statement from the grieving husband, but we have confirmed that both he and the baby escaped through the window,” a police official said.

The woman, who had been recovering from childbirth, was at home caring for the baby, while her husband worked at a nearby restaurant.

The fire was reportedly caused by a woman living on the second floor who used a lighter and a pain relief aerosol product to kill cockroaches — mimicking a “flamethrower” technique she had seen on YouTube.

The woman told police she had used the method before without incident. This time, however, flames spread to a bed and nearby trash, triggering the fire. The woman initially attempted to extinguish it herself but eventually called the 119 emergency hotline for help.

Firefighters managed to put out the blaze in about 40 minutes.

In addition to the woman’s death, eight other residents suffered smoke inhalation. The building houses 32 households, most of them single-person units.

Police plan to seek an arrest warrant for the perpetrator on charges of accidental arson and negligent homicide.

This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.
BY HYEON YE-SEUL [[email protected]]