Nine Chinese identified in South Korea fire

THE Chinese embassy has confirmed the identities of nine of 12 Chinese people who died in a warehouse fire in South Korea that killed a total of 40 people and injured 17 others.

Seven of the nine Chinese victims were from one family, Yan Fenglan, consul general of the embassy said, New Express reported today.

The nine victims are Zhao Dongming, Yan Junying, Sun Donghe, Piao Zhen'ai, Piao Yonghao, Piao Yingshi, Jin Jun, Jin Longhai and Piao Longzhi, the embassy said.

Zhao, Yan, Sun, Piao Zhen'ai, Piao Yonghao, Piao Yingshi and Jin Jun were from the same family.

The relatives went to South Korea in pursuit of their "Korean dream" and chose to work at the warehouse in Icheon together so that they could take care of each other, the report said.

The identities of the three other Chinese victims are still unknown. Yan said in previous reports that South Korean police will run DNA tests to confirm their identities.

The 12 dead Chinese and another 45-year-old Chinese woman who was seriously injured in the fire were all ethnically Korean and from northeastern China. They were temporary workers at the burned warehouse, the embassy said in previous reports.

The fire began around 10:50am on Monday. It was extinguished after more than five hours.

Fifty seven workers were working in the basement of the warehouse under construction when a bottle of flammable liquid stored in the room was ignited, causing three explosions.

Seventeen workers escaped, 10 of whom were seriously injured and sent to hospital.

"The fire engulfed the warehouse in less than four seconds and all I knew was that I had to run for the exit," Piao Zhongyong, who survived the accident, told the newspaper.

The fire ignited the warehouse's construction materials and polyurethane foam boards, enveloping the basement in toxic gas and black smoke, the report cited firefighters as saying.

"It was almost impossible for firefighters to locate the exit inhaling the toxic gas," an unnamed firefighter told the newspaper.

South Korea's Dong-A Ilbo (East Asia Daily) said poor firefighting facilities and ignorance of work safety are to blame for the deaths.