Skip to content

Archives for south-korea

See all posts in the network tagged with south-korea

Merchant Ship Ka-Boom in Korean Waters

No comments

Not a Good Week For the Shipping Business

A MERCHANT FREIGHTER THAT CARRIES PETROLEUM products had a hull-breaking explosion Sunday morning off the coast of South Korea.

Korea Coast Guard photo via Reuters

The ship had just left the port at Incheon when it blew up.  It is believed that five of the 16-man crew were killed and perhaps six more are missing.

The Korea Herald tells us:

Doola Shipping, which operates the ship, said the explosion seems to have taken place while gas was being drained from the oil tank. "The vessel usually transports diesel, but this time it carried gasoline. We are now examining whether it had any relation to the explosion," a company official said.

Korea Coast Guard photo via Reuters

The explosion was not caused by any external shock, Coast Guard officials said, adding it suddenly occurred when some crew members were cleaning the oil tank on the deck. They will request a forensic test for the case, the officials said.

Apparently the gasoline had been offloaded at Incheon and it was the vapors in the tank that exploded.  There was no product leaked into the sea as a result of the accident.  An investigation is open to determine what happened.

Euro News posted this raw video showing a closeup view of the ship from sea level:

 

*  *  *  *  *  *  *

*  *  *  *  *  *  *

Posted by on January 15, 2012 • Filed under: explosion, Fire Rescue Topics, rescue, Rescues, Videos • Tagged: , , , ,

Indoor Shooting Gallery Fire in South Korea Kills 10

Comments Off

AN INTENSE FIRE AT AN INDOOR SHOOTING RANGE BURNED 10 people to death, eight of them Japanese tourists, Saturday in Busan, South Korea, the country’s 2nd-largest city.  The other two victims were both Korean, one of them the visitors’ tour guide and the other an employee of the business.  Six more people are in the hospital with severe burns and it is expected that the death toll will rise.  DNA samples are being used to identify the bodies.

busan b AFP

AFP

Police and fire officers, along with National Institute of Science Investigation officials, are at the site today trying to determine what started the deadly fire.  It began around 2:25 pm in the 2nd-floor shooting range which is located in a 5-story building in the commercial district.  Busan firefighters had the fire knocked down in 40 minutes.

busan c xinhua

Xinhua

Korea Times is reporting that:  Witnesses say an explosion was followed by sparks.
“A black column of smoke soared into the sky right after a sudden bang from the shooting range,” Yonhap News Agency quoted witness Keum Seong-hwan as saying. ‘”A group of Japanese tourists ran out of the building with fire on their bodies.”

The Busan Fire Brigade said that this gallery had been warned previously about the high use of toxic soundproofing materials on the walls.  These type of businesses are normally without windows, also.

Posted by on November 15, 2009 • Filed under: fire, Fires • Tagged: , , , , ,