16 killed in battery factory explosion in South Korea
Last Updated on June 25, 2024 8:54 am
A powerful explosion occurred at a lithium battery factory in South Korea. At least 16 people have been killed. Besides, five more people are missing, for whom search and rescue operation is going on.
On Monday, the news agency Reuters reported this information citing local fire service officials.
The accident happened at Aricell, a battery manufacturing plant in Hwaseong, the country’s main industrial cluster region. The area is located about 90 minutes southwest of the capital Seoul.
Regarding the accident, a local fire service official named Kim Jin-young said that the fire started after a series of explosions from battery cells inside a warehouse with about 35,000 units. However, it is not yet clear what exactly caused this explosion.
A witness told Reuters he saw firefighters carrying six bodies out of the factory.
However, due to the severity of the fire, it has become difficult for rescuers to identify the dead, said Kim, a fire service official.
Earlier, the local Yonhap news agency reported that around 20 bodies were found inside the plant. But Kim said in a televised briefing that 16 people had died and two others had been burned. Several were also seriously injured.
The local fire service official also said that the rescuers are trying to find five more people inside the factory.