[Anchor]
Yesterday (August 28), a fire broke out at a tire material plant in Cheonan, South Chungcheong Province, leaving three people dead and two others injured. The impact of the explosions scattered debris and embers to neighboring factories, causing continuous damage to the surrounding area.
TJB reporter Kim Ji-hoon has the details.
[Reporter]
Fiery flames engulf the roof of a building, continuously spewing thick black smoke.
Debris and dust blown off by the blast pour down onto the surrounding area.
At around 11:44 AM, a fire broke out at a tire material plant in Dongnam-gu, Cheonan.
[Seo Hwa-soon / Seongnam-myeon, Cheonan: Everyone rushed outside. Everyone rushed outside, wondering what that sound was... They put their hands on their chests, completely shocked, not knowing what to do.]
Damage continued to spread to the surrounding area as factory parts flew across the road to another plant opposite, and flying embers caused secondary fires to ignite.
[Gong Yi-deun / Nearby Factory Manager: It sounded like a bomb going off, and the flames soared about 50 meters into the air. Smoke kept billowing and embers flew over, causing a fire at our factory.]
The fire authorities issued a Level 1 response at around 12:05 PM, mobilizing 46 pieces of equipment and about 300 personnel, and completely extinguished the flames around 3:48 PM, about four hours after the fire started.
The fire scene is filled with smoke and an acrid smell, and looking at the upper part of the building, you can see materials twisted like taffy from the fire.
The casualties were also heavy.
A woman in her 70s who worked in the cafeteria was killed by falling debris outside the plant, and two male workers of Philippine nationality were found dead on the 6th and 8th floors inside the factory, respectively.
One 30-something worker of Philippine nationality suffered burns, and a firefighter engaged in firefighting operations was injured by falling debris, bringing the total casualties from this fire to three dead and two injured.
Police and fire authorities believe the fire started on the 4th floor of the 8--story factory building and are investigating the exact point of ignition and the cause of the explosion.
(Video reporting: Kim Il-won TJB, Video editing: Choi Woon-ki TJB, Video provided by: Chungnam Fire Headquarters)
TJB Kim Ji-hoon
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