A Wednesday morning fire at a South Korean nursing home has left 21 dead and eight injured, the Los Angeles Times reported.
The fire is believed to have originated in a storage room on the second floor of the Hyosarang nursing home in Jangseong, south of Seoul, a little after midnight. Twenty of those who died were patients, as well as one nurse who also died. The nursing home cared for patients suffering from illnesses including Alzheimer's disease and dementia, the newspaper reported.
Police have detained and questioned an 82-year-old man suspected of arson. The man, only identified by his last name, Kim, was a patient at the nursing home.
Authorities also recovered a cigarette lighter they believe started the fire, the Wall Street Journal reported.
"The investigation is focusing on the possibility of arson," Police captain Roh Kyu-ho said according to the WSJ.
Most of the victims in the 320-patient nursing home were in their 70s, 80s and 90s. Most of the victims also died from toxic smoke inhalation.
Marks on the victims' wrists and ankles indicate they struggled to escape from the fire, according to quotes from family members, the LA Times reported.
But local fire officials said there were no signs that the nursing home tied down its patients. Officials also said the building's windows had bars to prevent accidents, according to local reports obtained by the LA Times. However, the nursing home installed the bars before they received a permit to do so.
An investigation into the window installations is to be conducted.
The fire is the latest in a string of accidents resulting in mass casualties, causing major concern about the public's safety in South Korea.
Seven people were killed and 41 were injured after a fire broke out at a bus terminal north of Seoul on Monday, the WSJ reported.
Last month, nearly 300 people died after a ferry carrying mostly high school students capsized and sank off the country's southern coast. The ferry's captain, several crew members and the owner have since been arrested.
