At right, relatives of those killed in the Busan shooting gallery fire mourn on their way to a hospital’s mortuary to identify the victims, Sunday. The photo on the left shows a girl group performing during a gala event to celebrate the countdown to the Visit Korea campaign for 2010 to 2012 at Jamsil Gymnasium in southern Seoul, Friday. Critics say that the Busan fire shows the unpreparedness by Korea to accommodate foreign tourists despite its strenous efforts to make itself a popular tourist destination and is likely to give its tourism industry the bad name. |
Eight Japanese Tourists Killed in Blaze After 'Visit Korea' Gala
By Park Si-soo
Staff Reporter
A fire Saturday killed 10 people including eight Japanese tourists at an indoor shooting range in Busan, the nation's second largest city.
By tragic coincidence, on the same day, a gala ceremony was held in Seoul as a pre-celebration for the "Visit Korea Year" campaign for 2010 to 2012.
The two events display the conflict between high hopes and harsh reality. A high-powered cast including first lady Kim Yoon-ok was on hand to celebrate tourism here, but at the same time the most basic necessity of the industry ― safety ― was not even guaranteed. Some critics say that Korea needs to improve safety and other basic necessities rather than holding galas if it wants to draw 10 million tourists annually by 2012, the last year of the campaign.
Police and fire authorities said the fire broke out around 2:25 p.m. and soon ripped through the second-floor shooting range in the five-story building. It took 40 minutes to put down, leaving 10 people, including the eight Japanese, dead and six people, including three more Japanese, injured.
The exact cause of the fire is still being investigated, authorities said.
Japan's Kyodo News Agency said the affected Japanese are believed to be a group of alumni from elementary and junior high schools in Unzen, Nagasaki that were taking part in a tour. Their visit to the shooting range, which are popular among Japanese, was part of their itinerary.
The group crossed over to Korea by ferry earlier Saturday and was scheduled to return to Japan yesterday, Kyodo said.
Those injured are being treated in an intensive care unit, but the death toll is feared to rise as some suffered burns to their entire bodies.
According to the firefighters and police, among the list of dead are Hideteru Araki, 36; Atsunobu Inada, 37; Akira Okubo, 37; Kazunobu Nakao, 37; Taiki Maeda, 36; Hidetaka Miyazaki, 36; Masahiro Ochihai, 56; Masanori Nagahama, 57; Lee Myung-sook, 40; and Shim Gil-seong, 32.
Those injured are Yohei Harada, 37; Misaru Gasahara, 37; Akira Simadha, 37, Moon In-ja, 66; Lim Jae-hoon, 31; and an unidentified person.
Witnesses say an explosion was followed by sparks.
"A black column of smoke soared into the sky right after a sudden bang from the shooting range," Yonhap News Agency quoted witness Keum Seong-hwan as saying. '"A group of Japanese tourists ran out of the building with fire on their bodies."
A total of 36 family members of the travelers arrived in Busan Sunday afternoon.
On Saturday, Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama asked for President Lee Myung-bak to make a thorough investigation of the incident and take care of the bereaved families, during the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum in Singapore. In response, President Lee promised a full-fledged cooperation.
Police and fire officers examined the site Sunday with officials from the National Institute of Science Investigation. They were trying to restore footage recorded by seven CCTVs inside the building.
It also remains a mystery what caused so many fatalities.
Firefighters said the only exit was just 10 meters away from a room where seven people were found dead.
"It's unclear why the victims failed to find the way leading to the exit," a firefighter said at the scene. "Its structure is quite simple so it's not that difficult to find the exit."
A police officer added, "Nothing is certain at the moment."
Japanese are one of the largest groups of foreign visitors. The Korea Tourism Organization expects the number of inbound Japanese travelers to reach three million by the end of the year, accounting for nearly 40 percent of the total visitors here.
To make Korea more attractive to foreigners, the government Friday unveiled a package of plans to draw 10 million visitors on an annual basis by 2012. Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon said in his opening speech: "With 75 percent of travelers visiting Seoul, how well Seoul does decides virtually all. I, as a head of Seoul, will do my best." The gala featured, among others, first lady Kim Yoon-ok, honorary chairwoman of the Visit Korea campaign; Culture, Sports and Tourism Minister Yu In-chon and Lee Byung-hun, the top actor starring in the current hit TV thriller, Iris. A number of boy bands and girl groups also performed at the event.
pss@koreatimes.co.kr
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