Apartment fire caused by battery

[Anchor]

A battery from an electric scooter was found at the scene of a fire in an apartment in Mapo, Seoul, where a mother in her 60s and her son in his 20s died.

According to the family, the fire started when the battery, which was charging, exploded.

Reporter Choo Jae-hoon has the details.

[Report]

The exterior walls of the apartment are charred black.

The hallway is covered in ash, and the furniture has been burned beyond recognition.

The fire started on the 14th floor and quickly spread throughout the apartment.

A mother in her 60s and her son in his 20s lost their lives, and over ten residents, including the father, were injured.

[Neighbor/voice altered: "It went 'bang' and the sound was something I've never heard before. It flashed like lightning..."]

The morning after the incident, police and fire authorities conducted a joint investigation to determine the cause.

Family members present at the scene stated, "The fire started when the battery for the electric scooter, which was charging in the room, exploded."

Battery was also found at the scene.

However, the fire department stated that they cannot definitively determine the cause of the fire at this time.

[Lee Seung-jae/Head of Disaster Safety Investigation Team, Mapo Fire Station: "The battery pack was in the room. Since the investigation results are not yet available, we need to approach this matter more cautiously."]

Last week, a fire broke out while charging a lithium-ion battery for a remote-controlled car in a laboratory at Seoul National University, highlighting a series of incidents where fires have started from charging batteries.

Fire authorities plan to reveal the exact cause of the fire based on the investigation results.

This is KBS News, Choo Jae-hoon.