MOSCOW, January 10 (Sputnik) — A fire in the apartment building in South Korea's city of Uijeongbu, north of Seoul, has killed at least three people and injured 101 others, The Korea Herald reports Saturday.
According to the newspaper, despite the fact that 80 fire trucks and helicopters were deployed to the disaster scene, "the emergency services experienced difficulties in extinguishing the blaze as the building is backed by rail tracks."
Dozens of residents were evacuated by helicopter from the building's roof. Police are investigating the cause of the fire, that broke out Saturday morning, and are not ruling out "the possibility of arson."
The fire quickly spread to adjacent buildings from a mail box in the parking lot, located above ground. The building's exterior may have been constructed out of combustible materials.
In an attempt to avoid the fire, some residents jumped from the building's floors. Seven of them are in critical condition.
The fire was completely extinguished in two hours after it broke out. Reportedly, the blaze destroyed some 20 vehicles.
