Cigarette suspected of starting Seoul Christmas fire that killed two

Investigators have found a cigarette butt and a lighter in the apartment where the fire is believed to have originated. Two people lost their lives, including a 33-year-old identified as Park, who died while saving his children.

A team of police and firefighters investigate a fire that broke out on Monday Christmas morning at a high-rise apartment in Dobong District Seoul. The fire claimed the lives of two people while injuring nearly 30 people. [YONHAP]

The Christmas fire that killed two men in their 30s may have been caused by a burning cigarette, the police said.

They said Tuesday they found a cigarette butt and a lighter in a room on the third floor of the apartment building that was ablaze.

"We have found crucial pieces of evidence at the scene that may have initiated the fire," Kim Sang-hoon, who is leading the forensic team at the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency, said.

An investigation involving 21 officials, including those from fire authorities and the Korea Electrical Safety Corporation, took place for over three hours on Tuesday.

The fire erupted in a 23-story apartment in Banghak-dong in Dobong District, northern Seoul, at 4:57 a.m. on Monday, taking more than three hours to extinguish.

The fire killed two people, including a 33-year-old, only identified by his last name, Park, who died while saving his children.

Park jumped from the fourth floor of the building while holding his seven-month-old daughter wrapped in a bed cover.

His wife and their two-year-old daughter jumped from the building and survived.

The wife has sustained a shoulder injury, and the two children were reportedly not hurt.

Park and his family reportedly moved into the apartment just two months ago.

Another resident, 38-year-old Lim, who lived on the 10th floor, was found dead on the stairs of the 11th floor.

Lim reportedly had evacuated his family, including his brother and parents, to safety before he died.

The occupants of the third-floor unit, a couple in their 70s, where the police suspect the fire originated, survived by jumping out.

The fire also left nearly 30 injured and around 200 nearby residents had to be evacuated.

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