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Nursing home fire in Korea kills 21

May 27, 2014

A firefighter administers CPR to one of the victims. (Yonhap)

By Kim Tong-hyung

Rescue workers were fearing a horror death toll after a fire broke out at a senior’s facility in Jangseong, South Jeolla Province, early Wednesday.

The blaze was believed to have started at around 12:27 a.m. At the time of the writing, firefighters had extinguished the large flames, but the building was still heavy with smoke.

The nursing home had around 30 to 40 patients plus employees. While most of the patients and workers on the first floor managed to evacuate, firefighters said most of the people in the second floor failed to escape.

Many people were feared to have been seriously injured or died by the flames or by intoxication.

-Update, 11:06 a.m. PT: According to Yonhap, 26 patients have been transferred from the nursing home. Ten are in critical condition.

-Update, 11:25 a.m. PT: Three elderly patients have died following the fire at a nursing hospital in Jangseong, Yonhap reports.

The 4,656-square-meter building was housing 35 people, among them one nurse and 34 patients all aged 70 to 80. Currently, two patients on the second floor are missing.

-Update, 12:51 p.m. PT: According to Yonhap, 21 have been confirmed dead as a result of the fire that broke out in a Jangseong nursing home Wednesday Korean time.

Damyang Fire Department said 21 of the 28 who were transferred to another hospital have died. Currently, six have been badly injured and one has minor injuries.