▲ On-site forensic investigation at the scene of the fire at Eunma Apartment in Daechi-dong, Gangnam
It was learned today (July 28) that the bereaved family of a high school student who lost her life in the Eunma Apartment fire five months ago has filed a criminal complaint against the police officers handling the case, accusing them of distorting the law.
According to reporting, the 59-year-old father of the victim, surnamed Kim, whose daughter died in the fire at Eunma Apartment in Daechi-dong, Gangnam-gu in February, submitted a complaint to the Seoul Central District Prosecutors Office today, demanding the punishment of the investigators in charge at the Suseo Police Station.
In the complaint, Kim claimed that the police investigation has downplayed the possibility of intentional arson by interior contractors, alleging that the police applied no legal provisions while knowing it would work to the contractors advantage, which amounts to a distortion of the law.
The police currently have booked three individuals, including two interior contractors who carried out remodeling work about a month before the fire and one electrical contractor, on charges of professional negligence resulting in death and injury, as well as violations of the Electrical Contractors Act and the Fire Facilities Contractors Act.
Kim argues that the charge of arson should also have been applied to investigate whether they were aware of the possibility that the construction work could cause a fire.
He contends that compulsory investigation should have been conducted at least to determine whether there was oblique intent.
The Gangnam Fire Station, which investigated the accident for several months, stated in a 167-page report that the exact cause was undetermined, while highlighting the possibility that the negligence of the contractor prior to moving in was linked to the electrical cause of the fire.
This was because it was confirmed that wires inside the kitchen ceiling, presumed to be the point of origin, were connected in a manner with low stability and violated electrical equipment regulations by not even being covered with non-combustible protective material.
Kim believes that unauthorized wiring work went unreported—such as unlicensed electricians joining wires using a rat-tail twist method—preventing the apartment management office from detecting it in advance and thus failing to prevent the fire.
In response, the police stance is that they have sequentially carried out investigation procedures since the fire on February 24, which included investigating the contractors and examining the suspicions surrounding the relevant parties based on forensic analysis by the National Forensic Service.
The police have been comprehensively examining issues regarding the wiring work process and the circumstances under which the fixed-temperature fire detector installed inside the unit failed to operate, but have yet to reach a conclusion after about five months.
It was just five days after moving in that Kim was unable to escape the fire scene and met a tragic death.
Kim is wife, who had evacuated with Kim is younger sibling, re-entered the scene to rescue her daughter and suffered severe burns to her head and shoulders.
Kim is family had moved to Daechi-dong just before high school admission for Kim, who dreamed of becoming a doctor and preparing for university entrance exams.
They rented that specific unit because it was the only one among the 4,000 households in Eunma Apartment where interior remodeling was completed.
Following the Eunma Apartment fire, safety issues—including fire facilities in aging apartments vulnerable to fires—emerged as a major topic of discussion.
It also fueled public opinion regarding the reconstruction of Eunma Apartment, which has been dragged out for over 20 years.
Three days after the fire, the integrated review proposal for the Eunma Apartment reconstruction maintenance project passed the Seoul Metropolitan Government review committee.
The final project implementation plan was authorized on the 2nd of this month.
(Photo: Yonhap News)
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