"Evidence Secured to Determine Fire Cause"... On-Site Inspection Conducted at Coupang Logistics Center

[Anchor]

A joint inspection has been conducted at the Incheon Coupang Logistics Center, where the fire was finally extinguished after 109 hours. Authorities stated that they secured evidence to determine the cause of the fire on the 6th floor, where the blaze is believed to have started.

Reporting by Kim Gyu-ri.

[Reporter]

Fire investigation teams, police, and relevant agencies are gathered on the first floor of the Coupang Logistics Center in Seoknam-dong, Incheon.

The joint inspection, which began at 10 a.m., involved some 30 personnel from 10 agencies, including the National Forensic Service and the Korea Safety Technology Corporation (Korea Electrical Safety Corporation).

This on-site inspection took place six days after the fire was completely extinguished at around 8:30 p.m. on the 22nd, which marked 109 hours since the blaze began.

The joint investigation team stated that they collected evidence at the point of origin on the 6th floor that points to potential electrical factors, such as batteries.

[Kim Soo-young / Researcher, National Fire Research Institute : (On the shelves) there are home appliances, right? Rechargeable batteries are all contained inside them.]

The fire authorities stated that the fire is believed to have started on the middle tier of the 6th floor, which features a multi-level mezzanine structure.

[Lee Ki-yeol / Head of Fire Response Investigation Division, National Fire Agency : The mezzanine (multi-level structure) consists of three tiers. It started right in front of the stairs on the second tier of that structure.]

Some of the debris has been sent to the National Forensic Service for a detailed appraisal to verify what items were stored on the shelves where the fire is suspected to have started.

Police, who have formed a dedicated team of about 30 personnel to investigate the cause of the fire, summoned Coupang officials, including the initial reporter, as reference witnesses last week.

Police also requested cooperation from Coupang to secure CCTV footage that can verify the situation prior to the outbreak of the fire.

They also plan to reference the case of the "Gyeonggi Icheon Coupang Logistics Center fire" from five years ago, when initial firefighting efforts were delayed because some employees turned off the fire alarms multiple times.

(Video reporting: Kim Han-gyeol, Video editing: Ahn Yeo-jin, Design: Lim Chan-hyeok)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.