Yonhap news agency reported that over 20 people died after a fire broke out at a lithium battery manufacturing factory near the capital of South Korea on Monday.
The tragic event took place at around 10:30am local time (7 am IST) at the facility located in Hwaseong, south of Seoul. Local firefighter Kim Jin-young affirmed that there is ongoing rescue operations.
Kim said the fire fighters had managed to put out the biggest blaze on site and were pulling bodies from the burnt premises.
The staff registration which was believed to have been burnt during the fire made it difficult to identify them according to Kim during his televised briefing in which he stated that 23 people were missing earlier on.
Chinese nationals were among those unaccounted for. The individuals could be located considering their mobile phone signals which came back from this floor of the building housing them.
As per South Korea reports, about 67 employees were present inside when this blaze began. The reason behind the occurrence is yet unknown, as the authorities try locating all these persons and ensuring safe measures for everyone affected by it.
