SEOUL, January 31 (AJP) - A massive fire at a household goods factory in South Korea left at least one foreign worker dead and another missing, authorities said on Saturday, highlighting ongoing safety concerns involving migrant labor in the country’s manufacturing sector.
The blaze broke out at around 2:55 p.m. on Friday at a factory in Eumseong County, North Chungcheong Province, which produces sanitary products such as wet wipes and diapers.
Firefighters declared the fire fully extinguished after more than 21 hours of operation, battling structural collapses and intense heat fueled by highly flammable materials inside the facility.
Of the 83 workers on site at the time, 81 managed to evacuate. However, two foreign nationals — a Nepali man in his 20s and a Kazakh man in his 50s — were initially unaccounted for.
One body, believed to be one of the missing workers, was discovered early Friday near a stairwell on the second floor of the building. Authorities have transferred the remains to a local funeral home and requested forensic identification.
The second worker remained missing as of Friday afternoon, with rescue teams continuing searches using heavy equipment and urban detection devices amid unstable debris.
Investigators said both missing workers were subcontracted employees responsible for waste processing inside the production building, working on the ground floor where the fire is believed to have originated.
Fire officials said the factory’s sandwich-panel structure and large volumes of combustible pulp materials caused the flames to spread rapidly, complicating rescue efforts and forcing overnight suspensions due to collapse risks.
Police have launched a serious industrial accident investigation and plan to examine whether safety management protocols were properly followed once on-site recovery is completed.
The incident has renewed scrutiny over working conditions faced by foreign laborers in South Korea’s industrial sector, where migrant workers are often employed through subcontractors in high-risk environments.
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