Fire at South Korea battery plant kills at least 16 people, 5 missing (updated)

S Connect Co

24/06/2024 08:03

(Updates death toll, adds details of the company, details from
scene)
       SEOUL, June 24 (Reuters) - A fire broke out at a lithium
battery factory in South Korea on Monday, killing at least 16
people and five others remain missing, local fire officials
said. 
    The fire, which has largely been extinguished, occurred at
around 10:30 a.m. (0130 GMT) at a factory run by battery
manufacturer Aricell in Hwaseong, south of the capital Seoul. 
    The blaze began after a series of battery cells exploded
inside a warehouse with some 35,000 units, said Kim Jin-young, a
local fire official. What had triggered the explosion remains
unclear, he added. 
    Yonhap news agency had earlier reported that some 20 bodies
had been found inside the plant, but Kim told a televised
briefing that 16 people died and two others have suffered
serious injuries. 
    He said rescuers were trying to find the five people
unaccounted for.
    A Reuters witness saw firefighters moving up to six bodies
out of the factory, which his located in an industrial area.
    Established in 2020, Aricell makes lithium primary batteries
for sensors and radio communication devices. It has 48
employees, according to its latest regulatory filing and its
Linkedin profile. 
    Calls to Aricell offices were unanswered. 
    The company is not listed on South Korea's stock market but
is majority owned by S-Connect, according to Aricell regulatory
filing. S-Connect is registered on the junior Kosdaq index and
its shares closed down 22.5%. 
    Live TV footage showed firefighters spraying the damaged
steel and concrete building. Parts of the upper level had
collapsed, and large chunks of the building looked like they had
been blown out into the street by an explosion.

 (Reporting by Hyonhee Shin, Ju-min Park, Joyce Lee and Jack
Kim; Editing by Kim Coghill and Miral Fahmy)
 ((hyonhee.shin@thomsonreuters.com;))