Gunsan Bar Blaze

[Anchor Lead]

A man set fire to a bar in Gunsan over the weekend killing three people and leaving more than thirty others wounded. Authorities say they’ve already determined there were serious problems with the rescue effort on the scene. Here’s what they found.

[Pkg]

Rescue workers carry victims of the arson on stretchers. However, the injured are moved into a regular bus instead of an ambulance. Rescue workers had to resort to buses to transport victims, as there were not enough ambulances.

[Soundbite] (Bus Company Staff) : "One of the firefighters asked our drivers to help transport victims to hospitals."

Fifteen ambulances from across the city arrived at the scene of the fire at the time, but it was not enough, as each ambulance can only carry one patient. Of the 33 victims, 18 were transported to hospitals by regular buses or passenger cars. This resulted in delays in first aid for patients with severe burns. Many of the victims had to be transported to medical centers in Seoul or Daejeon, as there is no medical equipment or personnel that specializes in treating burns in the entire Jeollabuk-do region. As such, the number of severely injured victims surged from the initial six to nearly 20. The bar arson in Gunsan, which left 33 people dead or injured, has revealed severe loopholes not only in the design of the building but also in the transportation and treatment of victims.