Construction site fire kills 38 in South Korea

By Riyaz ul Khaliq

ANKARA (AA) - At least 38 workers were killed and 10 others injured in a massive fire at a warehouse construction site in South Korea on Wednesday, local media reported.

78 people are said to have been working at the construction site in Gyeonggi province when the incident happened, according to Yonhap news agency.

Blazes came out of the warehouse at around 1:32 p.m. local time (0432GMT) in Icheon, 80 kilometers southeast of Seoul. Firefighters brought the situation under control after almost six hours.

The Government has moved its machinery to rescue the workers.

There are fears that the death toll may rise as whereabouts of many workers are still unknown.

Icheon is home to chip producers and storage facilities for retailers.

"The fire seems to have spread extremely quickly, with the victims apparently having been unable to evacuate at all during the fire," firefighters said.