52 people rescued from fire on first floor of commercial building in Ansan, smoke reaching lodging facilities on sixth floor

[Anchor]

A fire broke out early this morning (Nov. 17) on the first floor of a commercial building in Ansan, Gyeonggi Province.

There were also lodging facilities on the 5th and 6th floors of the building.

Major casualties could have occurred.

A total of 52 people, including guests, were rescued.

First, we have Yoon Ah-rim with the report.

[Report]

Bright red flames are raging on the first floor of the commercial building.

Thick smoke is spreading around the building.

The fire broke out around 3:30 AM in a six-story commercial building in Danwon-gu, Ansan.

[Fire Witness/Voice Altered: "At first, when the smoke was billowing, it was coming out so much that you couldn't see the building."]

The acrid smoke infiltrated the 5th and 6th floors where the lodging facilities were located.

A total of 52 people, including guests, either evacuated on their own or were rescued with the help of firefighters.

Among them, two people jumped onto an air mattress set up outside the building to save their lives.

[Kim Geon-woo/Team Leader of Safety Support Team, Ansan Fire Department: "The smoke had risen to the 4th, 5th, and 6th floors. Firefighters went up wearing air tanks and rescued the people by providing auxiliary masks."]

Although 31 people were transported to the hospital for smoke inhalation and 2 for serious injuries, it has been confirmed that their lives are not in danger.

To minimize casualties, the fire department issued a Level 2 response, mobilizing personnel and equipment from about six nearby fire stations and extinguished the fire after two and a half hours.

To investigate the cause of the fire, police and fire authorities conducted a joint inspection and determined that the cause of the fire was electrical, on the floor of the restaurant on the first floor.

Additionally, guests testified that the sprinklers and alarms did not activate, which has prompted inspection of whether the fire safety equipment functioned properly.

This is KBS News, Yoon Ah-rim.