<Anchor> In
the morning of the 11th, a fire broke out in a gosiwon in Yeongdeungpo, Seoul, and two people died.
A simple sprinkler installed in each room of the gosiwon worked, but it was not enough to put out the fire.
Reporter Ji-wook Kim reports.
<Reporter>
Thick smoke covered the entire building, and firefighters rushed into the building through the windows on the second floor.
A fire broke out at a gosiwon in Yeongdeungpo, Seoul, around 6:30 am today.
Of the 18 people in the gosiwon at the time, 16 were quickly evacuated.
However, two men in their 60s and 70s, who could not escape, were taken to the hospital with burns, but eventually died.
They were the people who stayed in the inner room far from the entrance.
[Gosiwon resident: The sound of 'Fire' was heard by our secretary (I looked up) and the ceiling was all spread like fog. Smoke...
.
Oh, it's a big deal.]
The fire that started in one room on the second floor burned the entire floor and was extinguished three hours after the firefighters arrived.
Shortly after the fire broke out, a simple sprinkler installed in each room of the gosiwon worked, but it was not enough to extinguish the fire.
This is because the amount of waterproofing is less and the spraying time is shorter than general sprinklers that emit a large amount of water immediately upon detection of a fire.
Gosiwon, where the fire broke out, is mainly home to low-income seniors, such as daily workers and recipients of basic livelihood security.
[Gosiwon resident: My room has no windows and nothing.
When the fire goes out, it's dark and full of smoke.]
A police official said in a call with SBS, "No traces of external intrusion or flammable materials have been found inside the gosiwon. in the middle," he said.
The police and fire authorities plan to determine the exact cause of the fire through a joint investigation tomorrow.
(Video coverage: Choi Jun-sik and Yoon Hyung, Video editing: Choi Jin-hwa)