<Anchor>
Today (21st), a fire broke out at the EcoProBM factory, which makes secondary battery materials. At that time, one of the four people remaining in the building escaped by themselves, and two people were rescued, but the remaining one was found dead. Let's connect our reporters at the fire scene in Ochang-eup, Cheongju-si, Chungcheongbuk-do.
Reporter Lee Yong-shik, is the evolution work finished?
<Reporter>
The place I am in is right in front of the EcoproBM factory in Ochang, North Chungcheong Province, where the fire broke out.
The firefighting work is almost finished, and only the smoke is escaping intermittently through the broken windows.
A musty smell from the fire permeates the factory area.
The fire started on the 4th floor of the factory around 3pm today.
Black smoke rose with a popping sound, and in an instant the sky around the factory was filled with smoke.
The fire started on the 4th floor and spread to the 5th and 6th floors.
The fire department issued the second stage of response around 3:40, and firefighting work was carried out with the support of firefighters from Sejong near Cheongju and Daejeon.
At the time of the fire, about 40 workers were working in the factory, and most of them escaped the factory, but when the fire spread, 3 of the remaining 4 people came out on their own or were rescued by the fire brigade.
A male employee in his 30s who was trapped on the fourth floor was unfortunately found dead in the boiler room around 6:35 pm.
The employee is said to have worked in a fourth-floor factory with three fellow workers.
The heat remaining inside the factory made it difficult for rescuers to search.
Following the search on the 4th floor, the fire department decided to conduct a search operation on the 5th and 6th floors to see if there are additional missing persons along with cleaning up residual fires.
At the time of the fire, firefighting equipment such as sprinklers were in operation, the fire department is aware.
(Video coverage: Hojun Choi, video editing: Taeho Yoon)