At least 37 killed, 70 injured in South Korea hospital fire

At least 37 people have been killed and 70 more have been injured in a fire at a hospital in South Korea.


The fire occurred in a hospital that did not have a sprinkler system according to officials, in what is the latest tragedy to raise concerns over the country's safety standards.

Many patients "walked though fire and smoke" to escape the blaze at the Sejong Hospital in the southern city of Miryang, as the main exit was on the first floor which was ablaze.

Other patients used ladders and plastic escape slides to flee upper floors, while firefighters carried patients who could not walk.

The fire is the deadliest in South Korea in at least a decade and follows a fire last month which killed 29 people in a high rise sports centre.

The presidential Blue House initially said the fire killed at least 41, but then deferred to the city's fire chief who put the death toll at 37.
   (RTE)
 26/1/18