Only three of 23 victims of Hwaseong factory fire identified so far

Only three of the 23 sets of remains pulled from the scene of Monday's factory fire in Hwaseong, Gyeonggi, had been identified as of Wednesday morning.

Police and Labor Ministry officials conduct a raid at the lithium battery maker Aricell's plant in Hwaseong, Gyeonggi, on Wednesday. [YONHAP]

Only three of the 23 sets of remains pulled from the scene of Monday's factory fire in Hwaseong, Gyeonggi, had been identified as of Wednesday morning.

The remaining bodies are undergoing autopsies to collect and match DNA.

As of 10 a.m. Wednesday, authorities had confirmed the identities of 52-year-old Kim, a Korean national who died from cardiac arrest en route to the hospital; Lee, 46, a naturalized Korean citizen from China; and Kim, 47, who was the last missing person found.

Gyeonggi police say usable fingerprints enabled the identifications.

For the remaining 20 individuals, their remains were so severely damaged in the fire that coroners will need to collect DNA from relatively intact sections such as femurs. The collected DNA will be compared with samples from family members to confirm identifications.

"We need to wait for the DNA testing results to confirm the exact personal details of the deceased," said a police officer. "The National Forensic Service and other relevant agencies are expediting the testing."

DNA results usually take at least three days. The nation's worst chemical factory accident this year occurred Monday morning when a fire broke out at a plant owned by lithium battery manufacturer Aricell in Hwaseong, Gyeonggi. The fire resulted in the death of 23 workers — 18 foreigners and five Koreans — and injuries to eight others.

With the difficulty in identifying the remains adding to the pain suffered by already grieving family members, Gyeonggi police announced on Wednesday that a special team to support the victims and their families has been formed.

Special teams are formed in the wake of serious crimes or fires that result in mass fatalities.

The team for the Hwaseong fire will operate under level red, the highest in the three-tier system for cases resulting in over 20 casualties.

Each bereaved family will be designated a police officer to help with medical expenses and connect them to hospitals and funeral halls.

Temporary housing is available if needed, with some family members of confirmed victims already being provided temporary housing typically used for victims of sex crimes and other incidents.

Authorities are also working to determine the fire's cause and hold those responsible accountable.

Earlier in the day, five Aricell officials were booked for allegedly breaching industrial safety regulations, according to police.

The Ministry of Employment and Labor's special investigative team also said the government ordered Aricell to halt operations at all its plants.

"The three Aricell officials face charges under the Occupational Safety and Health Act and the Serious Accidents Punishment Act," said Min Gil-soo, head of the ministry team, highlighting potential penalties if a thorough and quick investigation confirms legal violations.

At 4:00 p.m., a search and seizure operation was conducted at five different places related to three companies — Aricell, a contracted company that dispatched foreign workers to Aricell, and another corporation that had previously sent workers there.

All searched locations were near or inside the facilities of Aricell or its parent company, S-connect.

The investigation aims to determine whether the lithium battery maker illegally employed foreign workers and whether Park Soon-kwan, the head of Aricell and S-connect, and other safety management personnel failed their safety responsibilities.

A team of 51 personnel, including 34 investigative officers and 17 labor ministry officials, participated in the search.

Based on their findings, police will evaluate whether workers received proper safety training. The police have been calling in Aricell factory workers since Tuesday to investigate whether safety training was faithfully conducted.

People mourn at a memorial altar set up at Hwaseong City Hall Wednesday for the victims of Monday’s fire at Aricell's battery plant in Gyeonggi, which killed 23 people. [JOINT PRESS CORPS]

To prevent similar fatal incidents, the labor ministry earlier in the day ordered around 500 battery manufacturing facilities nationwide to conduct emergency safety inspections.

Since Tuesday, local fire authorities and related organizations have been conducting inspections at 200 of these facilities.

On Wednesday morning, a battery plant in Gwangju was inspected by a joint team that included the city’s fire authorities and related organizations.

The team checked the availability and management of fire equipment and identified potential hazards.

The team will inspect 28 other factories in the city and provide safety education on evacuation procedures and safety requirements.

Additionally, other provinces and cities have formed joint teams to inspect battery or chemical plants.

South Jeolla and Ulsan will inspect 29 lithium battery and chemical facilities and 12 facilities, respectively.

These inspections, focusing on facility conditions, fire equipment and safety management, will continue until early July.

However, whether such inspections will effectively prevent future fire incidents remains uncertain, as Aricell was already warned about potential severe casualties in the event of a fire three months ago.

In a document obtained by PPP Rep. Wi Seong-gon from the Hwaseong Fire Agency on Wednesday, fire authorities warned of a risk of fire spreading at 11 of its facilities during an emergency, based on an on-site inspection conducted in March. The document specifically highlighted a high risk of casualties in building three, where the fire started.

The Presidential Committee of National Cohesion, a consultative body to the president, on Wednesday promised to improve the working conditions of foreign workers.

“Considering that the victims of the recent fire were mostly foreigners, we will suggest reforms focused on providing measures to protect the working environment of foreign workers,” the presidential committee stated in a press release.

The committee also emphasized that implementing preventive safety measures will benefit both foreign and local workers, highlighting their commitment to preventing similar incidents in the future.

A joint team of police, firefighters, forensic workers and other government officials was launched to investigate the fire site from around noon Tuesday until 4:10 p.m. Based on their findings, authorities will determine the cause of the accident and assess potential regulatory violations.

BY WOO JI-WON [woo.jiwon@joongang.co.kr]