By Micheal Chukwuebuka, Reporting
ON Monday, June 24, no fewer than 22 people were killed in a fire at a lithium battery factory in South Korea.
Stonix News gathered from a source that the blaze broke out at around 10:31 a.m. local time at a facility operated by battery maker Aricell in Hwaseong, Gyeonggi Province, about 50 kilometers southwest of Seoul.
Hwaseong Fire Department official Kim Jin-young, in a briefing, said it was extinguished around 3:10 p.m, and firefighters were able to enter the factory.
Among the dead, CNN reported that two were Koreans and 20 were foreigners, the majority of whom were Chinese nationals.
Rescue workers recovered a number of burned bodies, and one person died due to cardiac arrest.
Kim Jin-young said at least two people were seriously injured with burns and five suffered minor injuries, adding that the factory’s worker’s directory was also burned, making the victim identification process difficult.
South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol ordered the Interior and Safety Ministry and the head of the fire department to “make all-out efforts” to rescue people by “mobilizing all available personnel and equipment.”
CNN stated in a report that lithium-ion batteries are found in many popular consumer products, powering laptops, cameras, smartphones and electric vehicles.
But a combination of manufacturer issues, misuse and aging batteries can heighten the risk from the batteries, which use flammable materials
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