Mercedes EV fire causes power outage, hospitalizations with 140 cars damaged

A fire caused by a Mercedes EV explosion in an underground garage at an Incheon apartment complex caused a power outage for 480 households, forcing residents to relocate.

Cars left burnt in an underground parking lot in Incheon. A total of 140 cars were damaged in a fire caused by a Mercedes-Benz EV explosion on Thursday, and of them, 40 were completely burned. [YONHAP]

Around 480 households suffered an power outage at an apartment complex in Incheon in the aftermath of a fire caused by a Mercedes-Benz EV explosion in an underground parking lot on Thursday.

The fire caused a power failure, which led to the loss of electricity for five apartment buildings in the complex, affecting about 480 out of 1,581 households.

CCTV footage shows a Mercedes-Benz EV exploding in an underground parking lot in Incheon Thursday morning. [YONHAP]

The affected residents were moved to state-run residential facilities, provided with food and daily necessities.

A total of 121 people were relocated as of Friday morning.

The apparent vehicle blaze broke out at 6:15 a.m. Thursday after the car, which appeared to be a white Mercedes EQE sedan, was seen in CCTV footage exploding around two seconds after emitting smoke.

The fire was extinguished after eight hours, but sent a total of 23 people to hospitals, including one firefighter and seven children, as of press time.

A resident is being rescued by a firefighter on a balcony of an apartment in Incheon after smoke suffused the complex following a fire caused by a Mercedes-Benz EV explosion in an underground parking lot on Thursday. [INCHEON FIRE DEPARTMENT]

The number of damaged cars also increased to 140 on Friday, up from 70 as reported a day ago. Forty of them were burned while around 100 vehicles suffered energy loss and were scorched.

Insurance coverage is also a matter of some urgency, but conversations can be held only after the discovery of the exact cause of the fire.

"It can all be discussed based on the accurate cause of the fire, but the expenses for damaged cars are highly likely to be covered by the manufacturer if the cause turned out to be rooted in flaws in the vehicle or battery," an insurance industry source said.

"If the cause is due to the owner of the burned car, owners of each damaged vehicle can contact their own insurance companies and the firms will later demand that the expense be covered by the subject responsible."

Police and fire authorities have launched a joint investigation to determine the exact cause. The burned car will be transferred to the police.

The Mercedes is reportedly equipped with Chinese batteries manufactured by Ningde-based Contemporary Amperex Technology. The sedan was launched in the Korean market in 2022.

BY SARAH CHEA [chea.sarah@joongang.co.kr]