Mother saves baby, falls escaping apartment fire

Flames are seen in a five-story building in Osan, Gyeonggi Province, in this photo provided by the province's fire department.

A woman in her 30s died Tuesday while escaping a fire started by a neighbor, falling from a window after first getting her infant child to safety.

According to Osan Police Station, the fire broke out Monday at a five-story commercial-residential building in Osan, Gyeonggi Province, at around 5:35 a.m. It was sparked by a second-floor resident, who tried to kill a cockroach using a lighter and aerosol spray, an ill-advised method she said she learned from YouTube. The fire quickly got out of control.

During evacuation, a family living on the fifth floor, a couple and their 2-month-old child, tried to escape into the building that was less than 1 meter apart from theirs. After handing the baby through a window to people in the next building, the husband followed, but the wife fell and sustained critical injuries. She was taken to the nearby Ajou University Hospital for treatment, but was pronounced dead at around 10:40 a.m.

No other deaths were reported, but eight people were treated for smoke inhalation. Fire authorities managed to extinguish the flames in about 40 minutes.

Police investigation revealed that the victim and her family were unable to escape through the emergency staircase due to heavy smoke, fearing its impact on the newborn. Officials will request an arrest warrant for the second-floor resident who started the fire, on charges of fire caused by gross negligence and death by negligence.