[Anchor]
A major fire at a Coupang logistics center in Incheon two months ago caused extensive damage to nearby schools and kindergartens. Although the education office asked Coupang to complete restoration work before the start of the new semester, no compensation has been made, leaving students to shoulder the full burden of the damage.
Reporter Cho Min-ki investigated the scene.
[Reporter]
Pitch-black smoke billowed endlessly, and building debris even scattered onto the playground of the park right next door.
This was the scene during the fire at the Incheon Coupang logistics center last July.
There are a total of 15 kindergartens and elementary, middle, and high schools located within a two-kilometer radius of the logistics center, with the closest one being just 200 meters away.
As the flames raged for nearly 110 hours, the children's outdoor play facilities had no way to escape the black soot.
We visited to see what the situation looks like two months later.
Soothing residue generated at the time of the fire is caked onto the edge of the building awnings like this.
If you wipe it directly with your hand, black dust still rubs off.
Despite several rounds of rain and cleaning efforts in the meantime, traces still remain on the roofs and floors of the playground.
[Official at a nearby educational facility: We decided to throw away items that we thought the soot had soaked into, and we cleaned everything else ourselves, well, the teachers did at least.]
According to an investigation by the Incheon Metropolitan City Office of Education, the estimated damages calculated independently by nearby educational facilities for exterior cleaning and replacement of ventilation equipment 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 even a month after the new semester began, no compensation has been provided.
[Official at a nearby educational facility: 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: Because delays in compensation continue, we have requested that they expedite the process.]
While some facilities have carried out cleaning and equipment replacement using their own budgets, others have postponed them until after receiving damage compensation or are waiting while asking Coupang to handle the cleaning.
Consequently, children's outdoor activities remain restricted.
Coupang stated that loss adjustment results have not yet been released and added, "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 the office of lawmaker Ko Min-jung)
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