Ten Dead in Daejeon Auto Parts Factory Fire, Four Still Missing

[Financial News] Ten of the 14 people who went missing in the fire at an auto parts factory in Munpyeong-dong, Daejeon Metropolitan City, on the 20th have been confirmed dead. Fire authorities are continuing nighttime search operations for the remaining missing workers.
As of 3:00 a.m. on the 21st, fire authorities reported that they had recovered the bodies of 10 missing people while conducting searches inside the burned factory. The remaining four missing individuals have not yet been located, but mobile phone location tracking suggests that all of them are likely still inside the building.
Starting at around 10:50 p.m. the previous day, fire authorities organized 10 teams of four members each and have been rotating them in to continue the search for the missing. At about 11:03 p.m. that night, they found one of the missing workers dead just inside the entrance to a second-floor break room and transported the body to a hospital.
Then, at around 12:19 a.m. on the 21st, they discovered nine more deceased individuals in an area believed to be a gym on the third floor and recovered their remains. Fire authorities plan to confirm their identities through DNA testing and fingerprint analysis before handing the bodies over to their families. Additional advanced search equipment and a 119 rescue dog will be deployed to continue the search for those still missing.
Kim Seung-ryong, Head of the Central Emergency Rescue Control Headquarters, said, "Conditions at the site are extremely unstable and dangerous, but we are carrying out rescue and recovery operations with the determination not to miss a single person," adding, "We will do everything we can to return the four remaining missing people to their families as soon as possible."
The fire, which broke out at around 1:17 p.m. the previous day, left 14 of the factory's 170 employees unaccounted for and injured a total of 59 people, who were taken to hospitals with varying degrees of injuries. With the death toll now at 10, the total number of casualties from the fire has reached 69.
kwj5797@fnnews.com Kim Won-jun Reporter