Vice FM vows assistance for foreign victims of Hwaseong battery plant fire

Officials from the police, fire department, National Forensic Service, Korea Institute of Civil Engineering and Building Technology, Ministry of Employment and Labor, and the Korea Occupational Safety and Health Agency conduct a joint inspection at the lithium battery manufacturing plant where a fire broke out in Hwaseong, Gyeonggi Province, June 25. Yonhap

Second Vice Foreign Minister Kang In-sun promised Tuesday that the government will make sure it provides the necessary support to the families of the foreign victims killed in the battery plant fire, her office said.

Kang made the pledge as she visited the site of the fire in Hwaseong, Gyeonggi Province, after the deadly blaze at a lithium battery manufacturing plant took 22 lives, with one still unaccounted for. Of them, 17 were Chinese, five were Koreans and one was Laotian.

Rescue authorities found one more body Tuesday and work was under way to identify the victim.

The foreign ministry held an emergency meeting in the wake of the fire Monday to review measures to support the foreign victims of the fire.

Kang plans to preside over a second response meeting to continue discussions on the assistance measures and deal with its aftermath, foreign ministry spokesperson Lim Soo-suk said in a press briefing. (Yonhap)