Fires at two Gangnam buildings leave 1 unresponsive, 18 injured

The first fire started on the third floor of a seven-story commercial and office space. About seven minutes later, a second fire — confirmed to be unrelated — broke out on the fourth floor of a nearby building.

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A fire breaks out at a building in Yeoksam-dong in Gangnam District, southern Seoul, on Oct. 20.

Two fires broke out minutes apart at separate buildings in Yeoksam-dong in Gangnam District, southern Seoul, on Tuesday, leaving one person unresponsive and injuring 18 others.

The first fire started on the third floor of the Sinmyeong building, a seven-story commercial and office space, at around 11:54 a.m., according to fire authorities. One person was taken to the hospital while unresponsive, and 10 others suffered minor injuries.

About seven minutes later, at around 12:01 p.m., a second fire broke out on the fourth floor of the nearby Hanyang building, injuring eight more people.

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Fire authorities issued a Level 1 response, the lowest in the three-tier system, and mobilized 115 personnel and 56 pieces of equipment to put out the fires.

“The two fires are confirmed to be unrelated,” a fire official said.

Fire authorities and police plan to investigate the exact causes of the fires once they are fully extinguished.


BY KIM JI-HYE [[email protected]]

This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.

seoul korea yeoksam-dong gangnam fire social affairs

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