The Inhyeon-dong fire disaster was an accident on October 30, 1999, when a fire broke out in a commercial building in Inhyeon-dong, Jung-gu, Incheon, killing 56 people, including middle and high school students who were inside the building, and injuring 78.1
Overview
At about 7 p.m. on Saturday, October 30, 1999, a fire broke out in a four-story commercial building located in Inhyeon-dong, Jung-gu, Incheon. The fire killed 52 people, including teenagers who were in Live II, a draft beer pub on the second floor, and Green Billiards, a billiards hall on the third floor. They were burned or suffocated by smoke. Another 71 people suffered smoke inhalation or burns and were treated at eight major hospitals in the Incheon area, including Gachon University Gil Medical Center, Incheon Medical Center, and Inha University Hospital. The fire first broke out at the interior renovation site of a karaoke room in the basement of the building and spread up the stairs between the second and third floors. On the day of the fire, autumn festivals had been held at more than ten high schools in Incheon. After the festivals ended, many teenagers who were holding after-parties wandered in confusion, searching for emergency exits and emergency stairs that did not exist, and collapsed unconscious from toxic gas. Fire engines and ambulances dispatched to the scene, 15 fire engines and 19 ambulances, along with 180 firefighters and 160 police officers, took part in extinguishing the fire, which was put out in 35 minutes. By school, the student death toll was finally tallied at 52, including 8 from Incheon Yeosang, 4 from Gyeongin Girls' Commercial High School (now Incheon Health High School), 4 from Incheon Gwangseong High School, 3 from Gyesan Girls' High School, and 3 from Jeongseok Aviation Science High School.23456789
Problems
The draft beer pub, about 50 pyeong in size, was crowded with 120 people that day. The interior was filled densely with tables and chairs, and the passageways were so narrow that only one person could pass through. Because of this, when the fire accident occurred, people could not find space to evacuate and became tangled together, which increased the number of casualties. The interior fixtures were flammable and toxic materials, so smoke spread instantly, and many of the casualties were suffocated by the thick toxic gas. There was also only one entrance, so once it was blocked, the people inside had no way to escape. Although there were windows, they had been replaced with plate glass during the renovation, and plywood had been attached over them, blocking the escape routes that could have been used in an emergency.
- Insufficient government management and enforcement
The beer pub, where many teenagers were killed, had been caught by police as a problem establishment and received an order to close. Nevertheless, it continued operating illegally, selling alcohol to minors, and this led to a major disaster. In particular, the commercial building where the fire occurred was classified as a small-scale building under the Building Act, with one basement level and five floors above ground, so no separate emergency stairs were installed. Its only exit staircase was narrow, about 1.2 meters wide, which was also pointed out as a problem because it prevented people from evacuating quickly.10
- Negligence in fire prevention
The "diffusion fire extinguishers" installed on the ceiling of the basement karaoke room in the building where the fire broke out had all been removed without permission at the time of the fire, on the grounds that they obstructed construction work. As a result, early firefighting failed. Due to the negligence of the authorities in charge of management, there were already factors that could routinely lead to mass casualties in the event of a fire.
- Irresponsible pub manager
When students tried to evacuate from the fire, the manager shouted at them to pay their bills. When he realized there was a fire, he escaped through an emergency exit that only he knew about, abandoning the students.
- Collusion with the police
The pub regularly admitted underage customers. As a result, the local police station received frequent reports, but the police took no initial action. At the time, the owner of the pub was reportedly on very friendly terms with the police and often paid them bribes.1112
Other
- The music video for the song "This Is Me" by SAT was based on this incident.
- A memorial stone and monument were erected in 2004 in front of the nearby Incheon Student Education and Culture Center.
- Kim Soon-deok, a former hockey player, was so distressed by the loss of her child in the Sea Land Youth Training Center fire that, when this incident occurred only four months later, she became disillusioned with South Korea. She decided to emigrate, returned all her medals and decorations, renounced her South Korean citizenship, and permanently emigrated to New Zealand.
- On April 7, 2022, the incident was covered on SBS's The Day That Leads to Another Day. Because of this, a request was made to remove the word "hof" (beer pub) from the incident's name. For reference, it was also briefly mentioned in the December 9 broadcast about Sea Land, mentioned above. It cannot be said that it was proper for students to drink alcohol, but it is not a crime punishable by death. As for asking why they did not go somewhere they could spend time healthily as teenagers, at that time even students attending school in central Seoul had nowhere to go, and going to a beer pub near school was not considered a particular problem. Above all, this disaster was mainly caused by the combination of the illegal and fraudulent conduct of the business owner and the corruption of the public authorities who were supposed to supervise and manage it. Therefore, such criticism shifts responsibility onto the victims, a typical unreasonable argument, and should be avoided.
- Although this was a major accident, it occurred under a self-proclaimed "democratic government," so there was no public demand for accountability from the president.
Notes