Two Months Later, 'Black Disaster' Leaves 540 Million Won in Damages Unresolved

[Anchor]

A massive fire at a Coupang logistics center in Incheon two months ago caused severe damage to nearby schools and kindergartens. Although the education office asked Coupang to complete restorations before the new semester began, no compensation has been made, leaving the students to bear the brunt of the damage.

Reporter Cho Min-ki went to the scene.

[Reporter]

Pitch-black smoke pours out incessantly, and debris from the building even flies into the playground of a park right next door.

This footage was captured during the Incheon Coupang logistics center fire last July.

There are a total of 15 kindergartens, elementary, middle, and high schools located within a 2-kilometer radius of the logistics center, with the closest one just 200 meters away.

While the flames raged for nearly 110 hours, the children's outdoor playground facilities had no way to escape the black soot.

We visited to see what the situation looks like two months later.

Soot generated during the fire is still baked onto the edges of the building awnings.

When wiped by hand, pitch-black dust still comes right off.

Despite several rounds of rain and cleaning attempts, traces still remain on the playground roofs and floors.

[Nearby Educational Facility Official: We decided to throw away items that we thought the soot had deeply penetrated, and (otherwise) we cleaned everything. The teachers did it first.]

According to the Incheon Metropolitan City Office of Education, the estimated damages independently calculated by nearby educational facilities for exterior cleaning and ventilation system replacements amounted to approximately 540 million won.

The education office requested Coupang to restore the damage before the start of the semester in late July, but compensation has not been made even a month after schools reopened.

[Nearby Educational Facility Official: It has already rained several times, so (the soot) would have washed away. At this point, it is difficult to verify (the scale of the damage).]

[Lee Sang-hoon / Spokesperson, Incheon Metropolitan City Office of Education: The delay in compensation is continuing, so we have requested that they push forward with it quickly.]

While some facilities have taken on cleaning and equipment replacements using their own budgets, others have postponed them until after damage compensation or are waiting while asking Coupang to clean.

Consequently, the children's outdoor activities remain restricted.

Coupang stated that loss adjustment results have not yet been released, adding, "We plan to take appropriate compensation measures as soon as the results come out."

(Video reporting: Kang Si-woo | Video editing: Park Ji-in | Design: Han Heung-soo | Photo courtesy of Office of Representative Ko Min-jung)

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