Fire at Lithium Battery Factory Kills One, Injures Three in South Korea

One person was killed and three others were injured, while 21 are still missing following a fire that broke out in a lithium battery factory south of Seoul, South Korea. According to Yonhap News Agency, a fire broke out at a lithium battery factory belonging to Aricell in Hwaseong, 45 km south of Seoul. Extinguishing efforts are still underway. Firefighters said that a worker died because of a heart attack, while another worker was seriously injured, and two others sustained minor injuries. Meanwhile, at least 21 workers are still trapped inside the building. The cause of the fire at the three-story concrete building, which has a total area of about 2,300 square metres, is not yet known. Firefighters face difficulties in completely extinguishing the flames due to the difficulty of dealing with lithium battery fires with ordinary extinguishing methods. The fire station in Hwaseong said that the fire spread quickly, as the battery cells continued to explode one after another, making it difficult for firefi ghters to enter the building and search for survivors. It is believed that there are about 35,000 batteries in the building. There were 67 workers in the factory, including 21 people inside the factory with whom contact was lost, which raises fears of more casualties. Source: Qatar News Agency