Construction site fire in South Korea kills at least 38

The fire broke out when workers were building a warehouse in the city of Icheon, about 80 kilometres (50 miles) southeast of Seoul, they said.

They said “rapid combustion” occurred while workers were working on an underground level of the warehouse, adding that they are investigating the cause of the blaze.

A total of 410 people including 335 firefighters, were mobilised to respond to the accident.

South Korean President Moon Jae-in asked related ministries to do their utmost efforts for the search and rescue operation by mobilising all available resources, presidential blue house spokesman Kang Min-seok said.

The fire was extinguished five hours after it occurred at 1:32 pm, Yonhap News Agency said.