Fire at South Korean nursing home kills 10

Fire at South Korean nursing home kills 10

2010-11-12 19:18:08 GMT+7 (ICT)

POHANG, SOUTH KOREA (BNO NEWS) -- Ten elderly people were killed on early Friday morning when a fire ripped through a nursing home in southeastern South Korea, according to local media.

The fire broke out shortly before 4.30 a.m. local time at a two-story building in Pohang, a city in the country's North Gyeongsang Province. About 200 firefighters responded to the scene and were able to extinguish the fire in approximately 30 minutes.

The Yonhap news agency reported that 10 people were killed, all who were between the ages of 71 and 90. Most of them suffocated as their ages and illnesses made it difficult to quickly evacuate the building.

Witnesses said the fire began inside an office on the first floor, where all fatalities were found. Seventeen people, between the ages of 50 and 91, also sustained injuries and were taken to two area hospitals.

Kim Hee-jung, a spokeswoman for President Lee Myung-bak, expressed his condolences. "President Lee said the deaths of the elderly people by the unfortunate incident are regrettable," she told the Yonhap news agency, adding that Lee had instructed Prime Minister Kim Hwang-sik to draw up measures to console the bereaved and prevent similar tragedies.

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