Fire in Dobong-gu: 170 evacuated

[Anchor]

Last night, a fire broke out in an apartment in Dobong-gu, Seoul, forcing over 170 residents to evacuate urgently.

The resident of the apartment where the fire occurred was incoherent, claiming he started the fire, and showed symptoms suggesting a mental illness, leading to his hospitalization.

Choi Min-young reports.

[Report]

Red flames are bursting out of the apartment window, and thick black smoke is rising into the sky.

The fire broke out on the 11th floor of an apartment in Ssangmun-dong, Dobong-gu, Seoul, around 11:10 PM on the 18th.

[Apartment Resident/Voice Altered: "Around 11 PM, there were a lot of sirens. Fire trucks were packed from here to the other end, and on the main road too."]

The fire was extinguished in an hour, and fortunately, there were no serious injuries, but over 170 residents had to evacuate in the middle of the night.

[Apartment Resident/Voice Altered: "Bang! After a while, it got noisy, and then there was another bang! So I ran out. When I came this way, it was completely red. It was exploding and really severe."]

The apartment unit where the fire occurred and the hallway are filled with soot, and traces of black smoke have spread to the upper floors.

It was a situation that could have led to a major loss of life.

However, the police apprehended a man in his 40s who was wandering around the fire scene and speaking incoherently.

This man is a resident of the 11th-floor unit where the fire broke out, and he reportedly made contradictory statements, first claiming he started the fire and then saying someone else did.

The police observed symptoms of mental illness in the man, so he was taken in for emergency hospitalization and treatment.

The police plan to investigate this man and conduct a forensic examination of the scene to determine the exact cause of the fire.

KBS News, Choi Min-young.