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A big fire broke out at a temple in Geoje, South Gyeongsang Province.
The police believe that a man who usually had a grudge against the temple intentionally set the fire on fire.
This is reporter Hong Seung-yeon.
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Late at night, a temple in Geoje, South Gyeongsang Province.
A man wearing a hat enters the main hall of Daeungjeon Hall.
There is no one in the courthouse that is open 24 hours a day.
He suddenly walks towards the window and lights the curtains with a lighter.
The fire spreads quickly and the man escapes the scene.
Today (3rd) at around 0:30 am, a large fire broke out at Gyeryongsa Temple in Geoje City, Gyeongsangnam-do.
The fire was so intense that neither the monk nor the firefighters had time to act.
[The head priest Seonam: When I opened the window because I smelled a burning smell, the flames were already filling the inside of the Daeungjeon Hall, and since it is a wooden building, there is no time to deal with it if it catches on fire.]
This fire turned one of the Daeungjeon buildings to ashes and the items in the temple hall. All were also burned.
The police tracked down the man filmed on the temple closed-circuit TV as a likely arson suspect and caught Mr. A at a bar in Geoje at around 4 am today, three hours after the fire broke out.
Mr. A, who was intoxicated at the time of the arrest, turned out to be a resident living near the temple.
[Geoje Police Station official: When I was eating at a restaurant in the temple, I was stopped while drinking soju, so I think I had a little grudge about that.
Not a formally registered believer.] The
police applied for an arrest warrant for Mr. A on charges of arson.
(Video coverage: Jung Kyung-moon)