Korean factory blaze kills 19 Chinese workers

A powerful explosion set on fire a lithium battery factory in South Korea on Monday, killing 22 workers, most of them Chinese nationals, local fire officials said.

The fire, which was extinguished, ripped through a factory run by battery manufacturer Aricell in Hwaseong, a major industrial cluster about 90 minutes southwest of the capital Seoul.

Nineteen Chinese workers and one Laotian were among the dead. The nationality of the remaining deceased workers was not yet confirmed, Kim Jin-young, a local fire official, told reporters, citing company officials.

The Chinese embassy in South Korea confirmed that several Chinese nationals died in the fire.

The South Korean Prime Minister visited the site, directed communication with the Chinese embassy and affected families, and ordered all measures to treat the injured, the embassy said.

The blaze began at 10:31am after a series of battery cells exploded inside a warehouse with some 35,000 units, Kim said. What had triggered the explosion remains unclear.

A witness saw firefighters moving six bodies out of the factory. Due to the intensity of the blaze, rescuers were finding it difficult to identify the dead, Kim added.

Live TV footage showed firefighters spraying the damaged steel and concrete building. Parts of the upper level had collapsed, and large chunks of the building seemed to have blown out into the street by an explosion.

Kim Jae-ho, Fire and Disaster Prevention professor at Daejeon University, said the fire had probably spread too quickly for staff to escape.

"Battery materials such as nickel are easily flammable," he said. "So often, there is not enough time to respond, compared to a fire caused by other materials."

President Yoon Suk Yeol was monitoring the situation, his office said, while Interior Minister Lee Sang-min urged local authorities to take steps to prevent any hazardous chemicals from contaminating the surroundings.

Established in 2020, Aricell makes lithium primary batteries for sensors and radio communication devices. It has 48 staff, according to its latest regulatory filing.