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Factory that caught fire in Daejeon had illegally built gym, break room, authorities say

Published: 21 Mar. 2026, 17:20 Updated: 21 Mar. 2026, 17:27

An aerial view of the factory fire site in Daejeon on March 11. [YONHAP]

The gym and break room — where most of the casualties from Friday’s factory fire in Daejeon were found — are believed to have been illegally constructed, the Daedeok Fire Station and Daedeok District Office stated in a briefing Saturday.

“Upon reviewing the building registry, we found that the gym and rest area do not exist officially," said Park Kyung-ha, head of the Housing and Landscape Division at Daedeok District Office.

The factory, manufacturing car parts in Munpyeong-dong in Daedeok District, Daejeon, consists of one main building built in 1996 and one annex built in 2010. The recent fire, fire authorities estimate, began on the first floor of the annex and then spread upward to the second and third floors. The annex, however, was originally a single-story building that was extended to add three more floors in 2014. The second floor was for production, and the third and fourth floors served as parking areas. The fourth floor was an outdoor parking area with no roof.

Because the factory has high ceilings of 5.5 meters (18 feet), slanted spaces were created beneath the ramps connecting the first floor to the upper levels. Fire and district authorities believe the company converted these leftover spaces into a gym and break room without the required permit to do so.

It was in these spaces that 10 were found dead and around 20 employees were waiting to be rescued, many hanging on the window rails, during the early stages of the fire.

The rescue crews, however, were unable to deploy air mattresses — the safest option for people forced to jump from a four-story building — due to the narrow space and flower beds below. Instead, they had to use plastic foam. Employees who fell onto it suffered fractures and bruises.

“The space faces a solid wall with no windows, and multiple windows on the left side. About 16 employees were injured while escaping through side windows," Nam Deuk-woo, head of the Daedeok Fire Station, said.

Park added, “This is a privately owned factory, so the local government does not inspect it routinely. During the extension, permits were confirmed by an architect, not by government staff, and supervision was conducted by a construction supervisor.”

Police and fire authorities investigatE the fire site in Daejeon on March 21. [YONHAP]

The fire has so far left 11 people dead, three missing and 59 injured.

It began at around 1:17 p.m. on Friday. The National Fire Agency issued a nationwide mobilization order at 1:53 p.m., citing concerns over potential mass casualties. Rescue teams were sent into the building at 10:25 p.m. Friday after a safety inspection of the building. Fire authorities declared the blaze fully extinguished at 11:48 p.m., some 10 hours after it started.

The cause remains unnamed, but flammable oil, accumulated grease and the presence of sludge in the dust collection system and piping contributed to the rapid spread, according to Nam during Saturday's briefing .

Search efforts are continuing for the remaining missing people who are believed to still be inside the building based on mobile phone location data. Additional measures, including search dogs and advanced detection equipment, have been deployed. No foreign workers are believed to be among the missing.

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.

SHIN JIN-HO, CHOI JONG-KWON, KIM BANG-HYUN [[email protected]]