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CHRISTIAN BREAKING NEWS: At Least 22 Dead, 8 Injured, 1 Missing in Battery Factory Fire at Hwaseong, South Korea [#SouthKoreaBatteryFactoryFire #SouthKoreaFactoryFire #SouthKoreaBatteryPlantFire]

A fire at a lithium-ion battery facoty in Hwaseong, Gyeonggi Province, killed at least 22 workers, injured 8, and left one missing as of 6:30 PM Korea Standard Time Monday, according to local authorities.

The majority of the fatalities were among the 21 workers who were trapped inside and went missing during the initial fire rescue efforts.

The Gyeonggi Fire and Disaster Headquarters confirmed the deaths of 22 people, including 20 foreign workers, when a fire broke out at Aricell’s lithium battery production plant in Gyeonggi Province’s southern city at 10:31 AM Korea Standard Time.

The plant reportedly employed 102 individuals at the time of the incident.

Of the 22 people killed, including those who went missing, 20 were foreigners, including 18 Chinese nationals, 1 Laotian, and 1 unidentified.

One worker died from cardiac arrest despite receiving medical treatment, while others were discovered inside during the fire rescue operation.

Because the bodies found in the fire were severely destroyed, identifying the victims would take time after DNA tests, authorities said.

At least 7 workers suffered serious injuries and were sent to a nearby hospital for treatment.

Although the cause of the 3-story building fire was being investigated, 1 of the workers who escaped told authorities that one of the batteries had exploded, according to Kim Jin-young, the head of the Hwaseong Police Station’s disaster prevention department.

The Aricell facility that caught fire is a 3-story reinforced concrete structure with a gross floor space of almost 2,300 square meters.

Its core business is on the production and sale of lithium primary batteries.

Lithium is utilized in electric vehicles, mobile phones, laptops, and environmentally friendly energy storage systems.

The factory had at least 35,000 batteries, some of which may explode.

According to the authorities, firefighters had trouble extinguishing the fire on lithium batteries at first since it could not be done so with water.

The search began at 3 PM Korea Standard Time, just as the main fire was brought under control.

The battery plant fire was delayed due to the explosive nature of the metal burning.

They are difficult to extinguish because batteries generate heat inside, which can lead to reignition long after the fire appears to be out, according to experts.

Lithium also reacts violently with water, causing hydrogen gas to burst out of the solution and potentially cause catastrophic explosions, according to the experts.

The Gyeonggi Fire and Disaster Headquarters issued a level 2 emergency response.

A level 1 response is issued when a fire station with authority in the disaster region is deemed to be capable of handling the situation, whereas a level 2 response is issued when multiple fire stations in the area are required to respond.

Authorities added that the reignited flames and toxic gas emitted by the blazing batteries made it difficult to put out the fire and rescue the people trapped inside the building.

NEWS SOURCE & LINKS:
The Korea Herald

AT LEAST 22 DEAD, 8 INJURED, 1 MISSING in Battery Factory Fire at Hwaseong, South Korea… | Christian Breaking News!