Battery fire breaks out in SNU lab

[Anchor]

Today (Aug. 12), a fire broke out in a laboratory at Seoul National University, prompting dozens of students to evacuate urgently.

The fire originated from a lithium-ion battery that was being charged, and such battery-related fires have been occurring frequently in various places.

Reporter Yeo So-yeon has the story.

[Report]

Thick black smoke is billowing out from a window that is slightly open, and water is gushing out through the broken glass.

The fire broke out around 10:40 AM on the 4th floor of the Yoo Hoi-jin Academic Information Center at Seoul National University's Gwanak Campus.

Although no one was injured in the fire, about 40 people, including students in the building, evacuated.

[Park Jun-yeop/Witness: "(People) were almost all out, and since the parking lot is below, it seemed like cars were trying to come out one by one."]

The location of the fire was a laboratory researching remote-controlled cars, which are miniature versions of autonomous vehicles.

Seoul National University explained that a student was charging an RC car to participate in an autonomous vehicle competition when smoke began to emerge from a 16-volt lithium-ion battery.

[Witness/Voice Altered: "There wasn't a sound, but when I looked out the window, I saw white smoke and a lot of fire trucks..."]

Last month, a fire broke out in a house in Yangpyeong-gun, Gyeonggi Province, when a lithium-ion battery for fishing lights exploded.

Again, the incident occurred while the battery was being charged.

In the past five years, there have been a total of 678 lithium-ion battery-related fires, averaging over 100 incidents per year.

Overcharging of batteries is cited as a major cause.

The fire authorities urged people to unplug the charger and cut off the power as soon as charging is complete, and to refrain from charging for long periods when going out or sleeping.

This is KBS News, Yeo So-yeon.