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When: February 18, 2003 |
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Damage to life: deaths - 192 / wounded ? 148 |
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Budget for recovery from the damage: ￦38,662,000,000 |
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Details of the accident: |
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| AAt around 09:53 hours on February 18, 2003, a fire broke out in the first passenger coach of Daegu Subway Line 1, Train No. 1079, which stopped at Jungangno Stop coming from Banwoldang Stop. It was set by an incendiary who was adjudged to have 2nd-class cerebral palsy. Right before Train No. 1079 arrived at Jungangno, the incendiary attempted to set the passenger coach on fire with a lighter. He had a four-liter anti-freezing solution barrel filled with gasoline in his hand. At first, the passengers were able to control him, but he set the barrel on fire and then threw it onto the floor of the coach, which rapidly burned the coach’s interior. |
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The incipient fire caused by the gasoline immediately spread to the entire floor, the interiors, the chairs, and the advertising boards, thus immediately burning down the coach’s interiors even before the fire could be put out. It then spread fast to the other six coaches of the train.
At that time, Train No. 1080 was approaching from the opposite direction, towards Jungangno from Daegu Stop. The flame and radiant heat of the high temperature spread to the six coaches of Train No. 1080, causing the supply of electricity to the train to be cut. The train thus couldn’t get out of Jungangno Stop, and consequently, the passengers who were locked in the six coaches all burned. |
| Due to the flame that engulfed 12 coaches of Train Nos. 1079 and 1080, the temperature of the platform on the third floor underground rose to over 1,000℃. As such, the facilities and signposts as well as the ceiling of the platform were burnt down, and the fire spread to the waiting room on the second floor underground and to the ticket-punching stand. In the case of the station building on the first floor underground and of the underground shopping mall, the fire shutter that was installed at the entrance of the shopping mall passage worked well, protecting the shopping mall from the fire, except for some damage caused by the smoke. |
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The fire, which broke out at around 09:53 hours, was extinguished at around 13:30 hours. Due to the poisonous gas underground and the poor firefighting activities owing to the firefighters’ lack of familiarity with the structure of the underground station building, the actual rescue operation and search for dead bodies was commenced only at around 15:30 hours. |
| Status of the Incendiary Fire at Daegu Subway by Time (Assumed) |
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| ① At 09:53 |
A fire was set on the fifth coach of Train No. 1079.
Chilseong Stop (in the direction of Anshim Stop)
Daegu Stop / Main route of Daegu Subway / Jungangno Stop
Banwoldang Stop (in the direction of Jincheon Stop)
The opposite train (No. 1080) was going through this stop on its way to Daeguk Stop (assumed).
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| ②
At 09:56 |
The fire in the train spread.
The opposite train was going to Jungangno Stop.
Jungangno Stop |
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| ③
At 09:57 |
The fire
spread.
One minute after Train No. 1080 stopped at Jungangno Stop, its electricity supply was cut. As such, the train couldn’t leave the station. |
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| ④
At 09:59~10:03 |
| Train No. 1080 waited for a re-supply of electricity, not allowing its passengers to take shelter. The number of deaths and injured people thus increased when the fire spread to the other parts of the train.
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| Circumstances surrounding the Accident |
At around 09:55 hours on February 18, 2003, a flame spread throughout the floor of the second coach of Daegu Subway Line 1 at the blink of an eye, and the coach got filled with screams.
The train that departed from Daegok Stop in Dalseo-gu arrived at Jungangno Stop at the heart of the downtown area. As it was past the rush hour, the coach was not crowded. Most of the passengers were elderly people who were going to a college for seniors, students taking a course at private educational institutes, and others who had to attend to something that day. All were seated, and the coach interior was very quiet, except for the sound made by the train’s engine.
At this time, the suspect, Dae-Han Kim (57 years old), who was seated at the back of the entrance, opened a white plastic barrel in his blue bag. Only the mouth of the barrel could be seen at the top of the bag. The passengers watched him as he was doing this, certain of what he was up to.
Kim snapped a lighter to create a flame. Yoong-Nam Jeon, who was seated opposite the suspect and who was watching him, told him: “Why are you snapping your lighter? Isn’t that dangerous?” Immediately, the flame from the plastic barrel in Kim’s arms shot up. He threw the plastic barrel onto the floor, as if intending to spray it, and he escaped through the back door. His legs had caught fire. He rolled down on the platform in pain, and the other passengers took off their clothes and put the fire out. The fire spread quickly, however, inside the coach.
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Home > Disaster Reports > Fires > Daegu Subway
Information : Administrative Management Division / Hyun-jin Choi / 02-2100-5128