S Korean hotel fire kills 7, matters made worse by lack of sprinklers

A fire that killed seven people in a South Korean hotel was possibly made worse by the lack of sprinklers, fire officials said Friday, as they investigated the cause of the blaze.

At least 12 people were being treated for injuries related to the fire that broke out Thursday evening at the nine-story property in the city of Bucheon, just west of the capital, Seoul.

Officials say the fire didn't spread broadly after starting in an unoccupied room on the 8th floor. But with the room was unprotected by sprinklers and toxic smoke quickly filled the upper floors. Most of the victims were found in the rooms and hallways of the eighth and ninth floors.

Lee Sang-don, an official with the Bucheon Fire Station, said the hotel, which was built in 2003, wasn't mandated to have a sprinkler system. While South Korea began requiring sprinklers on all buildings with more than six floors starting in 2017, the requirement wasn't retroactively applied to most older buildings, except for some medical facilities and nursing homes.

When we got there, (the floors) were already filled with smoke, which was also pouring out of the windows, Lee said in a briefing. He said that the fire started in Room 810, which was unoccupied after a guest complained of smelling something burning and requested a room change to the hotel's management.

A government team of fire officials, forensic experts and police started an on-site inspection Friday to investigate the cause of the blaze. Cho Seon-ho, chief of the Gyeonggi provincial fire services, reportedly said in a briefing to Interior and Safety Minister Lee Sang-min at the scene that the fire was most likely caused by electrical problems.