Arson suspected in textile warehouse fire

Thick plumes of smoke billow from a textile warehouse in Gimpo, Gyeonggi Province, Monday. The fire killed a security guard and destroyed some 1,600 tons of clothing. / Yonhap

By Jhoo Dong-chan

Police said that arson is suspected in a fire that broke out early Monday at a seven-story textile warehouse run by Cheil Industries in Gimpo, Gyeonggi Province.

A 34-year-old security guard surnamed Yoon, who was found injured in an elevator inside the warehouse, was later pronounced dead en route to hospital. Some 1,600 tons of textiles stored in the warehouse were also burnt, police said.

The fire started on the sixth floor at 2:16 a.m. and surveillance camera footage shows an unidentified man carrying a box into the warehouse just before this.

“We are trying to identify the man by questioning warehouse workers and analyzing the footage,” said an officer from Gyeonggi Gimpo Police Station.

More than a hundred fire trucks and 631 firefighters were dispatched to the scene immediately after emergency calls were made, but it took more than 10 hours to put the fire out because of the clothing stored inside the warehouse, police said.