On Monday (June 24), a lithium battery factory in South Korea suddenly caught fire, resulting in the death of 22 workers, with most of them being Chinese citizens.
According to Reuters, the fire broke out at around 10:30 a.m. local time on June 24 at the factory of Korean battery manufacturer ARICELL in Hwaseong City, Gyeonggi Province, about 48 kilometers southwest of Seoul. The blaze has now been mostly extinguished.
Local fire officials said that among the 22 fatalities, there were 18 Chinese workers and 1 worker from Laos, while the nationalities of the other victims have not been confirmed.
Officials at the scene told Reuters reporters that two people are hospitalized with severe burns.
Video footage from the scene showed extensive damage to the upper part of the involved factory building, with firefighters on-site battling the blaze.
Local fire officials stated that the building contained over 35,000 finished lithium batteries, which led to consecutive explosions after the batteries caught fire. However, the cause of the fire is still unknown.
Professor Kim Jae-ho, specializing in fire prevention and disaster management at Daejeon University in South Korea, mentioned that the fire spread too quickly, possibly preventing workers from escaping.
He said, “Materials like nickel in batteries are highly combustible. Therefore, fires caused by them tend to escalate faster compared to fires caused by other materials.”
The office of South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol stated that President Yoon is closely monitoring the situation, while Interior Minister Lee Sang-min urged local authorities to take measures to prevent any chemical contamination of the surrounding environment.
An eyewitness told Reuters that he saw firefighters carrying up to six bodies out of the factory.
Earlier reports from Yonhap News Agency stated that around 20 bodies of victims were found inside the factory where the incident occurred. However, fire officials mentioned during a televised briefing that the fire resulted in 16 deaths, with 2 seriously injured individuals, and rescue teams are working to locate 5 missing persons. The death toll has now risen to 22.
Considering lithium is a hazardous chemical, the fire department swiftly issued a level 2 response, mobilizing 31 to 50 pieces of equipment from 3 to 7 fire departments, and deploying 145 firefighters to assist in firefighting efforts.
Aricell company was established in 2020, mainly producing disposable lithium batteries for sensors and wireless communication equipment. The latest regulatory documents show that the company has 48 employees.
According to regulatory filings submitted by Aricell, the company is not yet listed on the Korean stock market but is majority-owned by S-Connect. S-Connect is listed on the Kosdaq trading market, and its stock price closed down 22.5%.
As a leading industrial economy, South Korea has experienced several fatal safety incidents in the past, many of which were due to negligence of safety hazards. The Korean government has stated that it has been continuously working to enhance its production safety measures.