Father dies in Dobong fire while saving his children on Christmas morning

The man only identified as Park was the first to make the emergency call. Park reportedly wrapped the two babies in a bed cover to minimize the impact of the fall.

Firefighters at the scene where a fire broke out at an apartment complex in Dobong District, Seoul, on Monday. [YONHAP]

One of two casualties of Christmas morning's apartment fire in Dobong District, northern Seoul, died while rescuing two infant children, the local fire department said Monday.

The man, identified only by his surname, Park, was also the first person to make an emergency call alerting authorities to the blaze.

Park jumped from the fourth floor while holding two babies—one aged seven months and the other two years old.

He reportedly wrapped the two babies in a bed cover to minimize the impact of the fall.

Both children survived, but Park died of his injuries.

Park's wife, who is the mother of the two children, suffered a shoulder fracture while escaping the blaze.

The fire started on the third floor of the building at 4:57 a.m. and rose quickly up to the twelfth floor, according to witness accounts. It was extinguished by 8:40 a.m.

The two residents of the third-floor apartment, who are both in their 70s, survived by jumping to the first floor.

Another man in his 30s, identified only by his last name, Lim, was discovered dead in the 11th-floor stairwell.

Lim is believed to have died of suffocation from the smoke.

Twenty-nine other residents were injured in the fire, while 200 were evacuated from the building.

BY LEE CHAN-KYU, LEE HO-JEONG [lee.hojeong@joongang.co.kr]