Death toll rises to 40 in S.Korea warehouse fire

SEOUL (Reuters) - The death toll from a fire that ripped through a warehouse under construction outside of Seoul has risen to 40, officials said on Tuesday, with most of the victims overcome by toxic fumes.

The fire in Icheon, about 60 km (40 miles) southeast of the South Korean capital, started on Monday and triggered several explosions.

Fire officials said most of the victims were construction workers trapped inside the basement of the refrigerated goods facility who could not escape a toxic cloud of gas that came from burning insulation material.

The exact cause is not yet known but local media said authorities were investigating whether gas caught fire in a basement engine room at the warehouse, starting the blaze.

Ten workers were taken to hospital and another seven escaped without major injuries, fire officials said. More than 600 fire fighters and police were dispatched to the scene.

The fire is the deadliest in South Korea since a blaze in the subway system of Daegu, 250 km southeast of Seoul, killed nearly 200 people in 2003.