South Korea hospital fire kills at least 37 people

Updated

Sorry, this video has expired Video: Patients escape major blaze that killed dozens at a hospital in South Korea (ABC News)

At least 37 people have been killed and more than 125 injured in a fire at a hospital in South Korea which mostly cares for elderly people.

Key points: Fire at Sejong Hospital believed to have started in a first-floor emergency room

More than 190 patients were in the hospital when the blaze broke out

The cause of the fire is not known

The blaze broke out at the Sejong Hospital in the city of Miryang, about 270 kilometres south-east of Seoul, around 7.30am (local time).

A total of 194 people had been hospitalised in two buildings of the hospital — the general medical ward and its nursing ward for the elderly.

The blaze began at the general ward's first-floor emergency room and most of the dead were from the first and second floors, the National Fire Agency official said.

The death toll had previously been reported as higher by the National Fire Agency who later said the misstep had happed because of double counting.

But officials said fatality numbers were still expected to rise further with at least 14 of the injured in a critical condition.

The cause of the fire was not immediately determined.

Miryang fire officials put out the blaze around three hours after it started and preventing it from reaching the upper floors.

Most of the 37 deaths appeared to be due to suffocation, with only one suffering burns, said an agency official who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to speak to media.

The identification of the dead was underway, he said.

Television reports showed black smoke billowing from the windows and entrance to the hospital and flames flickering.

The hospital's operations were suspended after the fire.

President Moon Jae-in convened an emergency meeting with senior advisers and expressed regret over the blaze.

He ordered officials to provide necessary medical supports to those rescued, find the exact cause of the fire and work out measures to prevent future fires, according to his spokesman Park Su-hyun.

Several recent fires in South Korea have been deadly.

In late December, 29 people were killed in a building fire in central Seoul, which was the country's deadliest blaze over the past decade before the hospital fire.

Last weekend, a fire at a Seoul motel killed six people, and police arrested a man who allegedly set it ablaze in anger because he had been denied a room for being heavily drunk.

In 2014, a fire set by an 81-year-old dementia patient killed 21 at another hospital for the elderly.

Reuters/AP

Topics: disasters-and-accidents, fires, korea-republic-of

First posted</s>Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption Firefighters tackle the blaze in Miryang

At least 37 people have been killed and about 130 injured in a fire at a hospital in South Korea.

The blaze is thought to have started in the emergency room at Sejong Hospital in the south-eastern city of Miryang.

Nearly 200 patients were inside the building and an adjoining nursing home when the fire broke out in the morning.

It is South Korea's deadliest fire in almost a decade and the death toll is expected to rise with several of the injured in critical condition.

Firefighters said the victims appeared to have died from smoke inhalation. Three hospital medical staff - a doctor, nurse and nursing assistant - are among the victims.

Authorities have given varying death tolls, with police earlier saying 41 had died. But the officials later corrected this, saying some victims were counted twice.

The fire completely gutted the hospital's first floor, South Korea's Yonhap news agency reports.

Miryang is about 270km (168 miles) south-east of the capital, Seoul.

'Falling over and screaming'

The hospital specialised in caring for elderly people with long-term needs, as well as other patients, reported the daily JoongAng Ilbo - and reports suggest many patients would have been too ill or old to escape alone.

Image copyright Getty Images Image caption The fire completely gutted the hospital's ground floor

Image copyright Getty Images Image caption Many of those inside the burning building were elderly

The paper quoted a surviving patient, Jang Yeong-jae, as saying that he was on the second floor when nurses screamed "Fire!" in the hallway and urged people to evacuate.

"But when I opened the exit door, the whole stairway was filled with dark smoke and I couldn't see a thing," he said.

"Everybody was running around in panic, falling over and screaming as smoke filled the rooms."

Mr Jang said he ripped open window screens and escaped down a ladder put up by firefighters.

"There were so many elderly patients on other floors... I wonder if they escaped safely," Mr Jang's wife was quoted as saying.

Fire chief Choi Man-woo told reporters the cause of the fire was not yet known.

The hospital building did not have any fire sprinklers installed, local media said.

Under current laws, the building was not required to have sprinklers, but they were in the process of being fitted in the adjoining nursing home.

A new law that is due to come into force on 30 June will make sprinklers compulsory for nursing homes.

Image copyright EPA Image caption Most of the casualties were due to smoke inhalation

Mr Choi said the fire started around 07:30 local time (22:30 GMT on Thursday) and was put out in about three hours.

Ninety-four patients from the adjacent nursing home were safely evacuated.

South Korean President Moon Jae-in arranged an emergency meeting to discuss ways of dealing with the fire.

Senior officials from both governing and opposition parties travelled to Miryang to offer their condolences and call for a thorough investigation.

Image copyright Reuters Image caption It is not known what caused the fire

Image copyright Reuters Image caption Scores of patients were inside the building and a neighbouring nursing home

The hospital has been operating since 2008 and about 35 medical staff work there, according to provincial officials.

The fire comes just a month after 29 people in the South Korean city of Jecheon were killed in a blaze at a public gym.

The owner and manager of the building were later arrested over multiple safety lapses, including malfunctioning sprinkler systems.</s>SEOUL, South Korea -- A fire swept through a hospital in southeastern South Korea on Friday, killing more than 30 people and injuring dozens in one of the country's most deadly fires in recent years. The fire at Sejong Hospital in the city of Miryang killed 31 people and injured 81, 14 of them in critical condition, the state-run National Fire Agency said. Agency officials said the death toll could increase.

Details of the fire including its cause were unknown. But local Miryang fire officials said they put out the blaze at 10:26 a.m., nearly three hours after it started at the first-floor emergency room of the hospital.

A National Fire Agency official said many of the deaths were confirmed after the victims were taken to nearby hospitals while being put on artificial ventilators. But he said he has no further details including the identification of the dead. The official spoke on condition of anonymity saying he wasn't authorized to speak to media.

A total of 194 people had been hospitalized in two buildings of Sejong Hospital, including 94 elderly people who were hospitalized in the nursing hospital, before the fire broke out, Miryang fire official Choi Choi Man-wu said in an earlier televised briefing.

The victims came both from the hospital and the nursing home. Some died on their way to another hospital, BBC News reports.

Sejong Hospital offers regular medical services and has 193 beds including 98 beds for the elderly who needs nursing care with 35 medical staff, according to Yonhap news agency.

South Korea is one of the fastest-aging countries in the world and has many nursing hospitals, which are preferred for elderly people who long-term doctors' care.

BBC News writes that South Korean President Moon Jae-in held an emergency meeting to discuss ways of dealing with the fire, said spokesman Cheong Wa Dae.

He ordered officials to provide necessary medical supports to those rescued, find the exact cause of the fire and work out measures to prevent future fires, according to his spokesman Park Su-hyun.

Miryang is about 168 miles (270 km) from the capital, Seoul.

Several recent fires in South Korea have been deadly.

In late December, 29 people were killed in a building fire in central Seoul, which was the country's deadliest blaze over the past decade before the hospital fire. Last weekend, a fire at a Seoul motel killed six people, and police arrested a man who allegedly set it ablaze in anger because he had been denied a room for being heavily drunk.

In 2014, a fire set by an 81-year-old dementia patient killed 21 at another hospital for the elderly.</s>A fire raced through a small South Korean hospital with no sprinkler system on Friday, killing 37 people, many of them elderly, and injuring more than 140 others in the country's deadliest blaze in about a decade.

Sejong Hospital in the southeastern city of Miryang has a separate nursing ward where 94 elderly patients were being treated, but all of them were safely evacuated, fire officials said.

Most of the victims were on the first and second floors of the hospital's six-story general ward, where its emergency room and intensive-care unit were located. Officials believe the fire started in the emergency room.

Mirayng police official Kim Han-su said 34 of the dead were women and 26 were in their 80s or older. He said police may be able to announce the cause of the fire on Saturday.

Police and forensic investigators dressed in white clothes, masks and helmets examined burned equipment in the blackened emergency room.

Dark smoke and flames were pouring from the emergency room when firefighters arrived, so they used ladders to enter second-floor windows. Some carried patients on their backs to other rescuers below, who moved them on stretchers to ambulances.

Several fabric escape chutes were hanging from the building's sixth floor windows after being used to evacuate patients and hospital staff.

Dozens of fire trucks and two helicopters were sent to the hospital as thick smoke blanketed nearby streets. The blaze was extinguished in about three hours.

Three of the dead worked at the hospital — an emergency room doctor and a nurse and nurse assistant on the second floor — said Son Kyung-cheol, head of the foundation that operates the facility. The National Fire Agency said officials were trying to identify other victims.

Most of the deaths appeared to be due to suffocation, with only one victim suffering burns, a National Fire Agency official said on condition of anonymity because he wasn't authorized to speak to the media.

Authorities said 143 people were injured, including seven who were in serious condition.

Son said the hospital did not have sprinklers because they were not required by law. Fire officials said the hospital wasn't big enough to require them.

Fire official Choi Man-wu said authorities were investigating whether the hospital had missed any mandatory safety inspections, although Son said it had not.

If safety issues were involved in the fire, hospital and local authorities are likely to receive harsh public criticism. In 2014, South Korea grappled with the aftermath of a ferry sinking that killed more than 300 people and exposed serious shortcomings in public safety. Officials blamed crew members' negligence, overloaded cargo, improper storage, unprofessional rescue work and corruption by the ship's owners.

President Moon Jae-in held an emergency meeting with senior advisers and ordered officials to provide necessary medical treatment to those rescued, find the exact cause of the fire and work out measures to prevent future fires, spokesman Park Su-hyun said.

South Korea is one of the fastest-aging countries in the world and has many nursing hospitals, which are preferred for elderly people who need long-term doctors' care.

In 2014, a fire set by an 81-year-old dementia patient killed 21 people at a hospital for the elderly.

In other recent fires, 29 people were killed in late December in a building in central South Korea, which was the country's deadliest blaze in the past decade before the hospital fire. Last weekend, a fire at a Seoul motel killed six people. Police arrested a man suspected of setting it in anger because he had been denied a room for being heavily drunk.

Kim reported from Seoul, South Korea. Associated Press writer Youkyung Lee and Kim Tong-hyung in Seoul contributed to this report.</s>(Miryang, South Korea) — At least 37 people are dead and more than 140 injured after a fire swept through a hospital in South Korea.

Officials say patients walked through fire and toxic smoke to escape the hospital while the main exit on the first floor was ablaze.

Patients trapped on upper floors used ladders and plastic escape slides to get out of the building and firefighters carried those who could not walk. At least 177 patients were at the hospital and a nearby nursing home when the fire started. Officials say most of those who died were on the first and second floors.

At least seven people were critically injured. The six-story hospital did not have a sprinkler system and did not require one under the law.</s>SEOUL, South Korea — A fire spread flames and smoke through a South Korean hospital Friday morning, killing at least 37 people, mainly from suffocation, and injuring nearly 130 others in one of the country’s deadliest blazes in years. The dead included three hospital staff and several people in an intensive-care unit for respiratory illnesses.

The fire started in Sejong Hospital’s emergency room and had engulfed the first floor when firefighters arrived. They approached the second floor through the windows to rescue trapped patients, said Choi Man-wu, a fire official in the southeastern city of Miryang.

He said smoke could have spread quickly through the building’s staircase at the center, but the flames were extinguished before reaching the third floor. The cause of the fire wasn’t immediately known. The hospital’s operations were suspended after the fire.

All the dead were from the hospital’s general ward, while all 94 people being cared for in a nursing ward for the elderly were safely evacuated after the fire, some carried on the backs of firefighters, Choi said.

The state-run National Fire Agency revised the death toll to 37 from 39, citing double counting.

Ten of the injured are in critical condition, medical official Cheon Jae-kyung said in the same televised briefing, suggesting the death toll could increase. The fire agency said 125 were injured, 14 of them in serious condition.

Most of the dead had been hospitalized for respiratory diseases in an intensive-care unit on the second floor. Two doctors and nine nurses were working in the emergency room at the time of fire.

Three of the dead worked at the hospital — a doctor who worked in the emergency room and a nurse and nurse assistant on the second floor, said Son Kyung-cheol, head of the foundation that operates the hospital.

Son said in a televised briefing that the hospital did not have sprinklers as it was not required by law. Fire agency officials said the hospital wasn’t big enough to be required to install sprinklers.

Most of the deaths appeared to be due to suffocation, with only one suffering burns, said an official at the National Fire Agency who spoke on condition of anonymity because he wasn’t authorized to speak to media. The identification of the dead was underway, he said.

Videos from local TV networks showed black smoke billowing out of the building and engulfing its entire surface. A rescuer carried on his back an elderly patient covered in a blanket as they escaped the nursing ward.

President Moon Jae-in expressed regret over the blaze at an emergency meeting convened with his senior advisers. He ordered officials to provide necessary medical supports to those rescued, find the exact cause of the fire and work out measures to prevent future fires, according to his spokesman Park Su-hyun.

South Korea is one of the fastest-aging countries in the world and has many nursing hospitals, which are preferred for elderly people who need long-term doctors’ care.

Several recent fires in South Korea have been deadly.

In late December, 29 people were killed in a building fire in central Seoul, which was the country’s deadliest blaze over the past decade before the hospital fire. Last weekend, a fire at a Seoul motel killed six people, and police arrested a man who allegedly set it ablaze in anger because he had been denied a room for being heavily drunk.

In 2014, a fire set by an 81-year-old dementia patient killed 21 at another hospital for the elderly.</s>A fire official says the toll from a hospital fire in South Korea has risen to 31 dead with 77 injured.

A fire official says the toll from a hospital fire in South Korea has risen to 31 dead with 77 injured.

(Kim Dong-mi/Yonhap via AP). Firefighters work as smoke billows from a hospital in Miryang, South Korea, Friday, Jan. 26, 2018. More than a dozen people were died in the hospital fire, according to a fire official.

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) - A fire swept through a hospital for the elderly in southeastern South Korea on Friday, killing more than 30 people and injuring dozens in one of the country's deadliest fires in recent years.

The fire at Sejong Hospital in the city of Miryang killed 31 people and injured 81, 14 of them in critical condition, the state-run National Fire Agency said. Agency officials said the death toll could increase.

Details of the fire including its cause were unknown. But local Miryang fire officials said they put out the blaze at 10:26 a.m., nearly three hours after it started at the first-floor emergency room of the hospital.

A National Fire Agency official said many of the deaths were confirmed after the victims were taken to nearby hospitals while being put on artificial ventilators. But he said he has no further details including the identification of the dead. The official spoke on condition of anonymity saying he wasn't authorized to speak to media.

A total of 194 people had been hospitalized in two buildings of Sejong Hospital, including 94 elderly people who were hospitalized in the nursing hospital, before the fire broke out, Miryang fire official Choi Choi Man-wu said in an earlier televised briefing.

Sejong Hospital has a nursing hospital for the elderly and also offers regular medical services. The hospital has 193 beds including 98 beds for the elderly who needs nursing care with 35 medical staff, according to Yonhap news agency.

South Korea is one of the fastest-aging countries in the world and has many nursing hospitals, which are preferred for elderly people who need long-term doctors' care.

President Moon Jae-in convened an emergency meeting with senior advisers and expressed regret over the blaze. He ordered officials to provide necessary medical supports to those rescued, find the exact cause of the fire and work out measures to prevent future fires, according to his spokesman Park Su-hyun.

Several recent fires in South Korea have been deadly.

In late December, 29 people were killed in a building fire in central Seoul, which was the country's deadliest blaze over the past decade before the hospital fire. Last weekend, a fire at a Seoul motel killed six people, and police arrested a man who allegedly set it ablaze in anger because he had been denied a room for being heavily drunk.

In 2014, a fire set by an 81-year-old dementia patient killed 21 at another hospital for the elderly.

Copyright 2018 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.</s>Firefighters work as smoke billows from a hospital in Miryang, South Korea, Friday, Jan. 26, 2018. The hospital fire causes scores of casualties and injuries, according to a fire agency official. (National Fire Agency/Yonhap via AP)

SEOUL: A fire swept through a hospital for the elderly in southeastern South Korea on Friday, killing more than 30 people and injuring dozens in one of the country's deadliest fires in recent years.

Fire official Choi Man-wu said in a televised briefing that the fire at Sejong Hospital in the city of Miryang killed 31 people and injured 77, eight of them in critical condition.

The fire started from the first floor emergency room of the hospital at 7:35 a.m. and was extinguished at 10:26 a.m., Choi said. The cause of the fire is under investigation.

He said a total of 194 people had been hospitalized in two buildings of Sejong Hospital, including 94 elderly people who were hospitalized in the nursing hospital, before the fire broke out.

President Moon Jae-in's office said Moon convened an emergency meeting with top advisers to discuss the fire. But it gave no further details.

Sejong Hospital has a nursing hospital for the elderly and also offers regular medical services. The hospital has 193 beds including 98 beds for the elderly who needs nursing care with 35 medical staff, according to Yonhap news agency.

South Korea is one of the fastest-aging countries in the world and has many nursing hospitals, which are preferred for elderly people who need long-term doctors' care.

Several recent fires in South Korea have been deadly.

In late December, 29 people were killed in a building fire in central Seoul, which was the country's deadliest blaze over the past decade before the hospital fire. Last weekend, a fire at a Seoul motel killed six people, and police arrested a man who allegedly set it ablaze in anger because he had been denied a room for being heavily drunk.

In 2014, a fire set by an 81-year-old dementia patient killed 21 at another hospital for the elderly.</s>SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — A fire swept through a hospital in southeastern South Korea on Friday, killing more than 30 people and injuring dozens in one of the country’s most deadly fires in recent years.

Fire official Choi Man-wu said in a televised briefing that the fire at Sejong Hospital in the city of Miryang killed 31 people and injured 77, eight of them in critical condition.

The fire started from the first floor of the hospital at 7:35 a.m. and was extinguished at 10:26 a.m., Choi said. The cause of the fire is under investigation

He said a total of 194 people had been hospitalized in two buildings of Sejong Hospital, including 94 elderly people who were hospitalized in the nursing hospital, before the fire broke out.

Sejong Hospital has a nursing hospital for the elderly and also offers regular medical services.

South Korea is one of the fastest-aging countries in the world and has many nursing hospitals, which are preferred for elderly people who long-term doctors’ care.

Yonhap news agency says the hospital has 193 beds including 98 beds for the elderly who needs nursing care with 35 medical staff.

In late December, 29 people were killed in a fire that tore through an eight-floor building in the city of Jecheon in central Seoul. It was the country’s deadliest blaze over the past decade before the hospital fire.

Copyright 2018 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.</s>A fire swept through a hospital for the elderly in southeastern South Korea on Friday, killing more than 30 people and injuring dozens in one of the country’s deadliest blazes in recent years.

A fire swept through a hospital for the elderly in southeastern South Korea on Friday, killing more than 30 people and injuring dozens in one of the country’s deadliest blazes in recent years.

Fire official Choi Man-wu said in a televised briefing that the blaze at Sejong Hospital in the city of Miryang killed 31 people and injured 77, eight of whom are in a critical condition.

The fire started from the first floor emergency room of the hospital at 7.35am and was extinguished at 10.26am, Mr Choi said. The cause of the fire is under investigation. He said a total of 194 people had been hospitalised in two buildings of Sejong Hospital, including 94 elderly people who were in the nursing hospital, before the fire broke out.

President Moon Jae-in’s office said Moon convened an emergency meeting with top advisers to discuss the fire. But it gave no further details. Sejong Hospital has a nursing hospital for the elderly and also offers regular medical services. The hospital has 193 beds, including 98 beds for the elderly who need nursing care, with 35 medical staff, according to Yonhap news agency.

South Korea is one of the fastest-ageing countries in the world and has many nursing hospitals, which are preferred for elderly people who need long-term care. Several recent fires in South Korea have been deadly.

In late December, 29 people were killed in a building fire in central Seoul, which was the country’s deadliest blaze over the past decade before the hospital fire. Last weekend, a fire at a Seoul motel killed six people. In 2014, a fire set by an 81-year-old dementia patient killed 21 at another hospital for the elderly.
A fire breaks out in a hospital in Miryang, South Korea, killing at least 37 people and injuring over 130 others.