Firefighter in Cardiac Arrest After Rushing into Blazing Factory... Sobbings Heard: "Are You Alive?"

[Anchor]

A large fire broke out this morning (October 16) at a metal printing factory in Bucheon, Gyeonggi Province. A total of eight people were injured, including six firefighters deployed for firefighting operations, and one of the firefighters was transported to the hospital in a state of cardiac arrest.

Reporter Kim Minjun has the details.

[Reporter]

Bright red flames and thick black smoke continuously billowed out of the windows.

The fire broke out at around 8:38 a.m. today at a four-story metal printing factory in Naedong, Bucheon, Gyeonggi Province.

This is the scene in front of the fire site.

As you can see, the ground is soaked with water used to extinguish the flames, the third floor where the fire started is completely charred black, and windows are shattered in various places.

[Han Seong-su / Bucheon, Gyeonggi Province: Red flames started coming out of the windows (from the left building). Then, about 20 minutes later, the right building (caught fire.)]

Fire authorities issued Level 2 Response, which mobilizes personnel from neighboring fire stations, and completely brought the flames under control after two and a half hours.

During this process, two factory officials and six firefighters were transported to the hospital for smoke inhalation and exhaustion.

In particular, two firefighters were classified as severely injured and were found in cardiac arrest and with impaired consciousness, respectively.

The firefighter who suffered impaired consciousness regained consciousness at the hospital, but the firefighter in cardiac arrest is reportedly still dependent on mechanical ventilation.

It was found that these two were among the first responders to enter the fire scene, who were trapped after failing to evacuate in time when the fire suddenly spread after entering the factory first.

[Fellow Firefighter: Are you alive?]

At the time of rescue, the two were about 5 meters apart, and it was reported that they suffered severe injuries while working in pairs of two.

Preliminary investigations showed that about 100 20-liter containers of Class 4 hazardous materials, classified as Class 2 petroleums, were stored inside the factory.

Police and fire authorities plan to investigate the exact cause of the fire through a joint inspection.

(Video Reporter: Joo Yong-jin | Video Editor: Ahn Yeo-jin)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.