Accidental Fire

[Anchor Lead]

The police have imposed a travel ban on a Sri Lankan man who was freed Wednesday as a suspect of the oil storage fire in Goyang city. The man will be questioned without being detained as the prosecution has turned down an arrest warrant requested on the charge of accidental fire.

[Pkg]

The police have imposed a travel ban on the suspect of the oil tank fire in Goyang city after he was freed Wednesday. He had been arrested 48 hours earlier. This is to block any chances of his returning to Sri Lanka. The police will question the suspect undetained. Prosecutors twice rejected arrest warrants based on the charge of starting an accidental fire. The Sri Lankan national gave a short statement in Korean as he was being released.

[Soundbite] (Suspect of Goyang fire(Sri Lankan National)) : "Thank you. Really thank you."

The prosecution believes it is difficult to apply the charge of accidental fire, which is why the warrant was turned down. The charge leveled against him is more serious than usual fire incidents and pertains to cases where the act is highly intentional and causes serious damages. In the latest incident, the heavier charge can be applied if the suspect knew a fire would erupt when he flew a sky lantern and knew there was an oil storage facility nearby. However prosecutors believe this is not the case. During a second investigation Wednesday, the Sri Lankan man said he did not know of the existence of the oil tank, contradicting the previous police announcement.

[Soundbite] (Interpreter for suspect during 2nd questioning) : "He didn't know about the oil storage. No one told him and he didn't know."

The suspect will therefore likely face a regular charge of accidental fire rather than a serious charge of the same crime.