Early Wednesday, a fire took 21 lives and injured seven, leaving six in critical condition, at a hospice in South Korea. This is the latest in the series of accidents since the Sewol ferry catastrophe that killed about 300. Even though the fire was brought under control in under 30 minutes many of the bedridden patients on the second floor of the building didn't escape in time. "Most of them died as a result of smoke inhalation," said a fire department official from Jangseong County. Reports have said that local officials made the statement that only one nurse was on duty in the hospital, taking charge of over 70 people, which included patients afflicted with Alzheimer's and stroke victims. She was reportedly killed in the fire as well. The fact that the patients were elderly and ill will add more fuel to the debate of careless safety for vulnerable individuals. This was also fueled by the ferry disaster in which most who died were children. This is the second deadly South Korea's had since seven were killed and forty-one were injured in a Seoul bus terminal fire on Monday, which was supposedly caused by welding work at a restaurant underground. Investigations of the ferry catastrophe have showed it was almost fully caused by human negligence and poor safety standards to increase profits. President of South Korea, Park Geun-Hye took responsibility for the ferry disaster and promised to improve standards and promised harsh punishments for those guilty of unlawful negligence after deadly accidents. This fire will be investigated to show whether the staffing was decent and the safety of the building was acceptable.
They really need to up their standards in Korea where safety is concerned. If I were President Geun-Hye, I would try as much as possible to avoid anymore of these deadly accidents. It sounds like laziness and laxity are taking their toll on the country. Maybe there is a good side to this. Maybe it's a splash of ice water in the government's face, so they'll make sure this kind of thing doesn't happen again. I didn't know that there was such a huge wake from the ferry accident, and this article showed that safety standards are going to be raised because of these disasters.
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