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| Firefighters battle a blaze engulfing Sejong Hospital in Miryang, South Gyeongsang Province, Friday morning. / Yonhap |
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| Thick gray smoke billows from Sejong Hospital in Miryang, South Gyeongsang Province, Friday morning. / Yonhap |
- As of 3:30 p.m., 37 dead, 18 in critical condition.
- The victims are mostly elderly. A doctor and two nurses also died.
- The death toll could rise.
- No fire sprinklers at the hospital.
- The fire started at 7:30 a.m. on the first floor.
- President Moon Jae-in convened an emergency staff meeting.
- The second major deadly fire in South Korea in recent weeks.
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By Oh Young-jin, Park Si-soo
Thirty-seven people died in a fire at Sejong Hospital in Miryang, South Gyeongsang Province, Friday morning.
Most of the victims were believed to have been aged patients receiving long-term intensive care who couldn't move without help. Among the victims were a doctor and two nurses, fire officials said.
The death toll could rise as 18 people injured were in critical condition, they said. Victims were believed to have inhaled toxic smoke. At least 113 people suffered minor injuries.
"As of 3:30 p.m., 37 were confirmed dead, 18 in critical condition and 113 with minor injuries," Choi Man-woo, chief of Miryang city's fire department, said. "The death toll could rise because some of the injured are in very critical condition."
The death toll was earlier said to be 41 but was corrected to 37.
Choi said the hospital had no fire sprinklers. But hospital officials said the facility was not legally required to have them because it was not large enough.
Police are investigating the fire's cause. They initially excluded arson.
Authorities said the fire started at 7:30 a.m. at the rear of the emergency room on the hospital's first floor. Investigators secured testimony that smoke was first spotted in the dressing room for nurses next to the emergency room.
Hospital head Sohn Kyeong-chul told reporters that two electric heaters were operating in the room and they seem to have caused the blaze.
There were 194 patients in the building, according to firefighters. The blaze was brought under control about 10:30 a.m.
"Most of the victims were found in the emergency ward on the first floor of the building," Choi said. "Others were found on the second and fifth floors."
All patients in the wing for seniors were evacuated safely, he said.
"Smoke billowed from the back of the building," a nurse was quoted as saying as she escaped.
Authorities said firefighters managed to stop the blaze spreading to the second floor.
The hospital is a six-story building. Thirty-five doctors and nurses are on its payroll, police said.
The hospital treats patients who need long-term care. It has 193 beds -- 98 for seniors and 95 for other patients.
President Moon Jae-in convened an emergency meeting, during which he ordered government staff to spare no effort in dealing with the disaster.
It was the second major deadly fire in South Korea in recent weeks. Twenty-nine people were killed and 40 injured in a blaze at a sports center in the town of Jecheon in December.
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