aespa's 'Mcountdown' stage catches fire, no injuries

A fire broke out Thursday morning while girl group aespa was performing for the upcoming episode of cable channel Mnet's weekly music show "Mcountdown." No injuries were suffered, according to the channel operator CJ ENM.

Girl group aespa poses during the red carpet event for the 31st Hanteo Music Awards held on Feb. 18. [NEWS1]

A fire broke out Thursday morning while girl group aespa was performing for the upcoming episode of cable channel Mnet's weekly music show "Mcountdown." No injuries were suffered, according to the channel operator CJ ENM.

The fire started Thursday morning at the CJ ENM building in Mapo District, western Seoul, but was soon extinguished, according to CJ ENM. A spark went off at the edge of the stage and caught fire on the set, the company said.

The staff immediately evacuated the audience and aespa's members from the studio and brought the fire under control, CJ ENM said.

"We found no injuries among the attendants," CJ ENM said. "We treated the 'Mcountdown' studio set with flame retardants and will thoroughly re-examine the maintenance status to prevent the same problem from recurring."

Other acts resumed recording their performances, reports said.

aespa will also be appearing for the live session of the "Mcountdown" show except for member Winter, who recently underwent pneumothorax surgery.

The music show will broadcast at 6 p.m. on Thursday as originally scheduled.

To find out more about aespa, visit Celeb Confirmed!

BY KIM JI-YE [kim.jiye@joongang.co.kr]