7 people dead in Daejeon mall fire

By Ko Dong-hwan

A fire broke out at a mall in Daejeon Monday morning, killing at least seven people and injuring one as they were working at an underground level.

The fire started before the mall in the city's Yuseong District opened for business, resulting in no casualties among shoppers. The only victims were employees of the mall in delivery, cleanup and fire prevention as well as one unidentified person. Three of them were initially taken to a hospital, two of whom died while being treated. At about 2:30 p.m., two more workers were found dead inside the mall. A few hours later, three more were discovered dead.

President Yoon Suk-yeol on Tuesday visited a mourning altar and comforted the families of the victims and thanked firefighters for their work after being briefed by officials on the damage, his office said.