South Korea’s deadliest fire in almost a decade has ripped through a hospital in the city of Miryang, killing at least 39 people and injuring more than 100.
The fire comes less than a month after a similar tragedy left 29 dead in the city of Jecheon, raising concerns over lax safety standards in the country.
Officials said they were still investigating the cause of Friday’s fire, which is believed to have started around 7:20 a.m. local time in the emergency room on the first floor of the 98-bed Sejong Hospital.
Rescue services took three hours to completely extinguish the flames which engulfed the first two floors of the six-story building.
At press briefing, Son Kyung-chul, chairman of Sejong Hospital, said that sprinklers were not installed in the building due to its small size.
The majority of those killed in the blaze are believed to be elderly patients, said Chun Jae-kyung, head of the Public medical center in Miryang.
“Because the hospital had many intensive care units and elderly patients. There were a lot of people with breathing problems,” Chun said. Most of the deaths were due to smoke inhalation.
A total of 18 people remain in critical condition.
The hospital is adjacent to a nursing home and shares many of the same facilities. All the patients inside the nursing home were rescued, authorities confirmed.
Footage aired on local TV showed firefighters emergency workers rushing to evacuate patients, carrying some of them on their backs.
The recent spate of deadly fires has led to questions over the government’s ability to enforce sufficient safety measures.
South Korean President Moon Jae-in announced he would convene an emergency staff meeting in response to the fire at Miryang, which is about 270km south-east of the capital Seoul.
In a statement, Moon promised to quickly identify the cause of the fire in order “to prevent the recurrence of the fire in the future.”