2 Uzbekistani kids killed in apartment fire
Firefighters put out a fire in a studio apartment in Gimhae, South Gyeongsang Province, Saturday. Two Uzbekistani children died in the fire and eight people were injured. / Yonhap
By Jung Hae-myoung
A four-year-old Uzbekistani boy and his 14-year-old sister died in a fire at a studio apartment in Gimhae, South Gyeongsang Province, Saturday.
Eight others were injured, including another sibling and a cousin of the children who died.
The fire broke out at the parking lot of the five-story building at around 7:40 p.m. A security guard of a neighboring building reported this to the fire authorities and the fire was put out in 20 minutes.
The four Uzbekistani children were found in one apartment and were transferred to a hospital. But the boy died during the transfer, and his sister died the next day while receiving treatment. The other two are receiving treatment in the intensive care unit.
The children's parents are Korean-Uzbekistanis who have been working here legally since January. The parents and the mother's sister, who has also been staying with a work visa, were out grocery shopping when the fire broke out.
Police suspect the four children could not understand Korean well and this could have been why they failed to escape.
“Considering the other residents escaped, we presume the children did not know what to do or failed to understand the Korean word for 'fire,'” a police officer said.
The authorities said the fire started from a short circuit. The outer walls of the building were made of “dryvit,” a cheap but highly flammable material which can emit toxic fumes when it burns. Police said a sprinkler was not mandatory for the building.
According to the authorities, the fire damaged seven cars and caused 180 million won ($158,900) in property losses.