South Korea’s government yesterday issued a public apology over a fierce blaze which killed 10 people, eight of them Japanese tourists, in the southern port city of Busan.
Six others were injured in the fire at an indoor shooting range on Saturday.
“Let me give my heart-felt condolences and deep apology to the bereaved families, who must endure a huge mental shock from the loss or injuries of their loved ones,” South Korean Tourism Minister Yu In-chon said in a statement yesterday.
Yu said the government in Seoul would conduct thorough safety checks on indoor shooting ranges nationwide to prevent such a tragedy happening again.
South Korean Prime Minister Chung Un-chan also instructed Cabinet ministers to take measures for the safety of tourists, his aides said, adding Chung plans to visit the site of the deadly fire.
Police were still looking for a possible cause yesterday after securing and restoring closed-circuit television footage from the range.
YTN television news reported people at the indoor shooting range were vulnerable to suffocation in the event of a fire because such facilities usually have no windows.
Yonhap news agency also said fire authorities had warned the owners of the shooting range against the use of soundproof material that would produce toxic fumes in fires.
Busan, the largest port city in South Korea, is one of the most popular tourist attractions for Japanese visitors to the country.
Police said the 40-minute blaze gutted the range on the second floor of a five-story building in the bustling downtown area and most of the dead were believed to have succumbed to severe burns and smoke inhalation.
The other two victims were Koreans, police and earlier reports said.
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