'Righteous death' reviewed for fire hero

By Kim Bo-eun

The government and the ruling Saenuri Party are pushing to have a man, who died saving residents from a building that was set on fire, to be put on the list of “those killed for a righteous cause.”

Ahn Chi-beom, 28, died after helping evacuate residents from a studio apartment building in Seogyo-dong, northwestern Seoul, after a fire broke out there around 4:20 a.m., Sept. 9.

Saenuri Party Chairman Lee Jung-hyun said Thursday he visited the funeral altar for Ahn the previous day and he proposed to government officials that he be put on the list of righteous deaths. He added that the officials promised to review it at a committee meeting under the Ministry of Health and Welfare.

“We must not forget the invaluable sacrifice of the deceased,” Lee said at a Supreme Council meeting at the National Assembly.

The government recognizes deaths which occur while saving others’ lives or preventing injuries or damage to property _ excluding the work of those in related professions _ as death in a righteous cause. It provides compensation for bereaved family members of such people, according to a related law.

Ahn, who was also a resident of the building, escaped the building shortly after the fire broke out and reported the fire to the rescue center. But he then re-entered the five-story building and rang the doorbells of each of the 21 homes in order to wake up the sleeping residents and enable them to evacuate.

There were a total of eight residents in the building at the time, and all of them evacuated the building.

Because there was only one surveillance camera at the entrance of the building, there was only a record of Ahn re-entering the building after escaping. But testimonies by residents said they were woken up by the sound of the doorbell and the voice of a young man, who told them to escape.

Ahn, however, was found unconscious on the stairs by the entrance to the building’s rooftop, after inhaling toxic fumes from the fire.

He was taken to hospital but died Tuesday, 11 days after being declared brain dead. There were no other deaths from the fire.

A memorial service for Ahn took place at St. Mary’s Hospital in southern Seoul, Thursday, where many mourners, including Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn, Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon, Rep. Lee and residents of the studio apartment building, came to pay their respects. Many messages of condolences were also posted on social media.

Ahn reportedly wished to become a voice actor, and moved into the studio apartment two months ago to attend a private academy for voice actor hopefuls in the neighborhood.

The fire was allegedly set by another resident in the building, a man in his 20s, who told police that he did so out of anger after breaking up with his girlfriend.