Fire at building near Seoul Plaza contained; no casualties reported
Seoul: Firefighters contained a blaze at a building in central Seoul on Tuesday that forced more than 100 people to evacuate, with no casualties reported, officials said.
Officials contained the fire 44 minutes after it broke out at the Seoul Centre Building near Seoul Plaza in front of the capital’s City Hall, with some 110 people evacuating from the scene, Yonhap News Agency reported.
While no casualties have been reported, three people received emergency care.
Around 10 construction workers evacuated to the building’s rooftop and were awaiting rescue.
Fire authorities believe the blaze began on the third floor of the building, where remodelling work was taking place. They plan to investigate the exact cause of the fire.
Earlier in September, a fire broke out at the national data infrastructure centre, halting dozens of online government services, the interior ministry said.
The blaze is presumed to have started from a battery at the National Information Resources Service in Daejeon, about 140 kilometres south of Seoul, according to the ministry.
The fire prompted officials to evacuate the scene and left one person with a minor injury.
Due to the fire, 70 online government services, including the mobile identification system and the online government platform for complaints and petitions, were suspended, it said.
Meanwhile, South Korean President Lee Jae Myung apologised for the inconveniences caused to people after a fire at the state data centre crippled services across multiple sectors, citing the lack of an emergency system to restore what he called a foreseeable incident.
Lee issued the apology during an emergency meeting after the government’s online services and networks were disrupted by the fire that broke out at the National Information Resources Service in the central city of Daejeon on Friday, following a lithium-ion battery explosion.
“The public is experiencing great inconvenience and anxiety because of the fire. As the nation’s top executive, I offer my sincere apologies,” he said.