"Loud Pops" Wake Sleeping Employees in Fatal Fire: 1 Dead, 2 Injured

[Anchor]

There was a tragic accident just one day before the Chuseok holiday. A fire broke out at a commercial building in Hwaseong, Gyeonggido, leaving one massage parlor employee dead and two others injured.

Reporter Cho Min-ki has the details.

[Reporter]

Thick, grayish smoke billowed continuously from a two-story commercial building, and most of the exterior wall on the second floor was charred black.

The fire broke out at around 8:00 AM today (September 23) at a massage parlor in Hwaseong, Gyeonggi Province.

[Witness: There were loud popping sounds coming from the second floor of the massage parlor, followed by a sudden burst and flames shooting up. There was an immense amount of smoke.]

Although the fire was extinguished in about three hours, three people inside the establishment fell victim to the disaster.

A woman in her 50s was found dead, while another woman in her 50s was rescued in cardiac arrest and reportedly recovered a pulse after being rushed to the hospital.

A third woman in her 50s, who barely managed to escape, also received hospital treatment after inhaling smoke.

The three individuals frequently stayed and worked at the parlor, and it was found that they were asleep in separate rooms when the fire struck.

Police and fire authorities, currently conducting a forensic investigation, suspect that the fire originated from electrical factors, such as a short circuit, in the ceiling of the massage parlor.

It was confirmed that the woman in her 50s who evacuated on her own told police, One of the two exit doors was locked, so I barely managed to escape through the opposite side.

The massage parlor was reportedly registered and operated under a body care service business license.

Police plan to investigate the exact cause of the fire and the scale of the damage, while also looking into whether the establishment operated illegally.

(Video by Lee Sang-hak | Video Editing by Kim Jun-hee | Graphics by Han Heung-soo)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.