Battery factory fire in South Korea kills at least 20 workers

Local fire officials in Hwaseong, south of Seoul, on Monday said the blaze likely began when lithium batteries exploded. The fire was thought to start on the second floor of the factory where the batteries were inspected and packaged. The fire killed at least 20 workers, 18 Chinese, two South Korean, and one Laotian worker, said fire official Kim Jin-young. One more victim had not been identified, another worker was unaccounted for, and eight other people were injured. Kim said the company, Aricell, owned the factory and 102 people were working inside when the fire began.

South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol, Prime Minister Han Duck-soo, and Interior and Safety Minister Lee Sang-min visited the site Monday. South Korea is a leading producer of lithium batteries.

Does South Korea have a history of these types of accidents? A fire at a construction site in Incheon in April of 2020 killed 38 construction workers and at least 37 people died in 2018 in a hospital fire in the southern city of Miryang. The South Korean Parliament in 2021 approved the Serious Accidents Punishment Act that holds business owners, management staff, or companies criminally liable for serious or fatal accidents at their facilities. The law took effect in January 2022. 

Dig deeper: Listen to Mary Muncy’s report on The World and Everything in It about how electric vehicles require mineral mining that is not yet regulated to prevent long-term damage to land.