Uzbek citizen reported missing after fire in South Korea (video)

An Uzbek citizen has been reported missing following a fire at a household goods manufacturing plant in South Korea on January 30, Yonhap News reported.

According to the report, the fire broke out at 2:56 p.m. local time at a factory located in Maengdong village, Chungbuk Province. The blaze spread rapidly and extended to neighboring factories. The plant primarily produced wet wipes and baby diapers, and official information indicates that no toxic chemicals or hazardous materials were handled at the site.

At the time of the fire reed, 83 employees were working at the factory, 81 of whom were evacuated in a timely manner. However, contact was lost with two workers: one Nepalese citizen believed to be in his early 20s and one Uzbek citizen believed to be in his early 50s. They are currently presumed missing.

To extinguish the fire, emergency services declared a “Level 2 response.” A total of 105 firefighters, 56 units of special equipment, and four helicopters were deployed. Due to strong winds, burning embers spread to a forested area on a nearby mountainside approximately 500 meters away, but that fire was fully extinguished by 4:10 p.m.

Once the fire was completely put out, an official investigation was planned to determine the exact cause of the blaze and assess the extent of material damage.

It is worth noting that earlier, an explosion occurred at a fireworks factory in Don Chedi district of Thailand’s Suphan Buri province. As a result of the incident, four people — one woman and three men — were injured. One of the men later died, while the remaining victims were taken to nearby hospitals.