Since the April 16 sinking of the Sewol ferry, a stream of additional disasters have occurred across the country.
On May 2, a subway train in Seoul crashed into another train at a station, injuring hundreds. On Monday, a fire at a bus terminal in Goyang, north of Seoul, killed eight people.
On Wednesday, a fire swept through a hospital ward for the elderly in Jangseong, South Jeolla Province, killing 21 people in what appears to be an act of arson. On the same day, a man in his 70s was caught trying to set fire to a subway train at a station in southern Seoul.
We are dumbfounded that this litany of terrible events has come at a time when the nation is engaged in an intense debate over safety standards while people are soul-searching following Korea's worst ever maritime disaster which killed more than 300 people. What's most regrettable is that incompetence, irresponsibility and a lack of safety awareness are commonly behind all these disasters.
The hospital fire was no exception. There were 34 patients and one nurse when the fire started on the second floor of a three-story annex of the Hyosarang Hospital right after midnight Wednesday, and the 119 rescue squad arrived at the scene in four minutes. The blaze was brought under control in about two minutes.
But the death toll was high because five of the patients were bedridden and 25 others were suffering from Alzheimer's. It's suspected that the hospital was not properly staffed in violation of regulations, making it all but impossible for hospital officials to help them out.
Furthermore, the hospital was not equipped with sprinklers or fireproof shutters. This was not illegal because the Ministry of Health and Welfare exempted small hospitals for the elderly from the obligation to be equipped with sprinklers in 2011, when the regulation was mandatory for nursing facilities for senior citizens.
The latest hospital fire is reminiscent of a fire that blazed through an elderly nursing center in Pohang, North Gyeongsang Province, four years ago, when 10 people were killed mostly from smoke inhalation. It's pathetic that we learned nothing from that deadly incident.
It's no wonder that hospitals and care facilities for the elderly are vulnerable to disasters such as fire and flooding because of the relative immobility of the patients. So the government should have paid more heed to safety education and practice in these facilities.
There is no denying a possible recurrence of similar calamities in them, given that hospitals and nursing homes for the elderly have mushroomed over the past decade in accordance with the country's rapid population aging.
The recurring disasters are a reminder that there are no safe places in Korea, but that's why we should double efforts to try and ensure safety in public facilities.
On May 2, a subway train in Seoul crashed into another train at a station, injuring hundreds. On Monday, a fire at a bus terminal in Goyang, north of Seoul, killed eight people.
On Wednesday, a fire swept through a hospital ward for the elderly in Jangseong, South Jeolla Province, killing 21 people in what appears to be an act of arson. On the same day, a man in his 70s was caught trying to set fire to a subway train at a station in southern Seoul.
We are dumbfounded that this litany of terrible events has come at a time when the nation is engaged in an intense debate over safety standards while people are soul-searching following Korea's worst ever maritime disaster which killed more than 300 people. What's most regrettable is that incompetence, irresponsibility and a lack of safety awareness are commonly behind all these disasters.
The hospital fire was no exception. There were 34 patients and one nurse when the fire started on the second floor of a three-story annex of the Hyosarang Hospital right after midnight Wednesday, and the 119 rescue squad arrived at the scene in four minutes. The blaze was brought under control in about two minutes.
But the death toll was high because five of the patients were bedridden and 25 others were suffering from Alzheimer's. It's suspected that the hospital was not properly staffed in violation of regulations, making it all but impossible for hospital officials to help them out.
Furthermore, the hospital was not equipped with sprinklers or fireproof shutters. This was not illegal because the Ministry of Health and Welfare exempted small hospitals for the elderly from the obligation to be equipped with sprinklers in 2011, when the regulation was mandatory for nursing facilities for senior citizens.
The latest hospital fire is reminiscent of a fire that blazed through an elderly nursing center in Pohang, North Gyeongsang Province, four years ago, when 10 people were killed mostly from smoke inhalation. It's pathetic that we learned nothing from that deadly incident.
It's no wonder that hospitals and care facilities for the elderly are vulnerable to disasters such as fire and flooding because of the relative immobility of the patients. So the government should have paid more heed to safety education and practice in these facilities.
There is no denying a possible recurrence of similar calamities in them, given that hospitals and nursing homes for the elderly have mushroomed over the past decade in accordance with the country's rapid population aging.
The recurring disasters are a reminder that there are no safe places in Korea, but that's why we should double efforts to try and ensure safety in public facilities.
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