Fire at National Hangeul Museum

[Anchor]

This morning (Feb. 1), a large fire broke out at the National Hangeul Museum in Yongsan-gu, Seoul, and was extinguished after six and a half hours.

Fortunately, the museum was closed to visitors due to expansion construction, so there were no injuries of visitors, and all cultural properties were stored in the storage room, so they were not damaged.

Reporter Hwang Da-ye has the story.

[Report]

Gray smoke is billowing from the roof of the museum.

Firefighters are continuously spraying water, but the flames are not easily controlled.

The fire broke out around 8:40 AM at the National Hangeul Museum in Yongsan-gu, Seoul.

At the time of the fire, expansion construction was underway at the museum.

[Kim Myung-wan/Director of Disaster Management, Yongsan Fire Station: "We suspect that the fire occurred during construction on the 3rd floor. It has been determined that the sprinklers were turned off during the construction."]

The museum has been closed since October of last year due to expansion construction, so there were no injuries of visitors.

One firefighter who was battling the blaze was injured, but six workers construction workers evacuated safely.

The large flames were brought under control around 12:30 PM, but due to the presence of flammable materials inside, it took six and a half hours to completely extinguish the fire.

The fire burned the 3rd and 4th floors of the museum completely.

The prolonged fire throughout the morning caused a lot of smoke, leading to significant inconvenience for local residents.

[Kwon Yu-cheol/Local Resident: "The acrid smell came into my house."]

[Kwon Yu-seung/Local Resident: "It felt like a chemical warfare situation, and even with the air purifier on, it seemed like it wouldn't go away..."]

The museum had designated treasures such as the "Worin Seokbo" and 257 designated cultural properties, but all were stored in the storage room and were not damaged.

[Kim Hee-soo/Head of Exhibition Operations, National Hangeul Museum: "We have completed the transfer of 257 designated cultural heritage items to the National Museum of Korea. The remaining materials in the storage are safe..."]

The fire authorities believe that the fire started during welding and cutting work and will investigate the exact cause of the fire.

This is Hwang Da-ye from KBS News.