SWIFT FIRE EVACUATION SAVES LIVES

[Anchor Lead]

A large fire occurred in a high-rise building in Namyangju, Gyeonggi-do Province, over the weekend. Fortunately, no serious casualties were reported. Those who inhaled smoke received medical attention and have now returned home. We have the details

[Pkg]

The building is charred here and there, with scorched devices scattered all over. A fire burned some 30,000 square meters of the residential and commercial complex. Out of about 360 apartments in the building, 300 were covered in soot. The blaze could have caused massive casualties. But people remained calm and swiftly evacuated the building, preventing a deadly disaster.

[Soundbite] Im Joo-ha(Store owner) : "We escaped together, saying, Oh my, where are you?, come with me quick. Let's go out. Once we got outside, I ensured everyone was safe. After we came out, huge black smoke soared suddenly."

Even before fire alarms went off, apartment residents escaped immediately upon spotting columns of smoke rising out of their windows.

[Soundbite] Lee Eung-hyun(Resident) : "Massive black smoke was rising. Two elderly people live next door. I knocked on their door and urged them to evacuate quickly with us."

Fire officials presume that since the building has multiple exits, the large number of people could evacuate simultaneously.

[Soundbite] (Gyeonggi-do Bukbu Fire Services official(VOICE MODIFIED)) : "They all dashed out after hearing warnings to evacuate. There are more than one exit on the first-floor arcade. It is possible to go out through multiple exits."

Masks also helped people inhale little smoke.

[Soundbite] Seo Dae-won(Resident) : "There were lots of smoke, but everyone was wearing masks and we were fine."

Some power has not yet been restored and roughly 100 residents are still staying in shelters. Police and firefighters conducted a joint on-site inspection on Monday morning to find the exact cause of the fire. They will look into whether or not the building's fire prevention system functioned properly, as some residents said the fire alarms and firewalls had not worked.