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The Daegu subway fire occurred on February 18, 2003, when an arsonist set fire to a train; 192 people died and 151 others were injured at the Jungangno station of the Daegu Metropolitan Subway in Daegu, South Korea. The fire had spread across two trains within minutes. It remains the deadliest deliberate loss of life in a single incident in South Korean peacetime history, succeeding the previous record set by a 1982 mass shooting.
Daegu subway fire
Firemen inspect the wreckage of a train car post-fire
The arsonist, Kim Dae-han (Hangul: 김대한; Hanja: 金大漢), was a 56-year-old unemployed former taxi driver who had suffered a stroke in November 2001 that left him partly paralyzed. Kim was dissatisfied with his medical treatment and had expressed sentiments of violence and depression; he later told police he wanted to kill himself, but to do so in a crowded place rather than alone. By most accounts, on the morning of February 18, he boarded train 1079 on Line 1 in the direction of Daegok Station, carrying a duffel bag that contained two green milk cartons filled with a flammable liquid, possibly paint thinner or gasoline.
Arson
As the train left Banwoldang station around 9:53 a.m., Kim began fumbling with the cartons and a cigarette lighter, alarming other passengers who tried to stop him. In the struggle, one of the cartons spilled and its liquid contents caught fire as the train pulled into Jungangno station in downtown Daegu. Kim, his back and legs on fire, managed to escape along with many passengers on train 1079, but within two minutes the fire had spread to all six cars. The fire spread quickly in the insulation between the layers of aluminum that form the shell of the cars, the vinyl and plastic materials in seat cushions and strap handles, and heavy plastic matting on the floors,[1] producing thick smoke as it burned.
Errors compounding the disaster
Smoke-damaged lockers and ATM
The operator of the train, Choi Jeong-hwan (Hangul: 최정환; Hanja: 崔政煥; aged 31), failed to notify subway officials immediately of the fire.
Smoke being visible on their closed-circuit television monitors, subway officials radioed the operator of train 1080, Choi Sang-yeol (Hangul: 최상열; Hanja: 崔相烈), advising him to proceed with caution because there was a fire in the station. Train 1080 entered Jungangno station and stopped alongside blazing train 1079 approximately four minutes later. The doors opened only briefly, then shut, apparently in an effort to keep out the toxic smoke that had filled the station. Shortly after train 1080's arrival, an automatic fire detector shut down the power supply to both trains, preventing train 1080 from leaving the station.
Transcripts show Choi Sang-yeol made three announcements advising passengers in train 1080 to remain seated while he attempted to reach superiors. Finally, he was advised "Quickly, run somewhere else. Go up... kill the engine and go." Choi then opened the doors and fled, but in doing so he removed the master key, which led to a shutdown of the onboard batteries that powered the train doors and effectively sealed passengers inside. Later investigation showed that 79 passengers remained trapped inside train 1080 and died there.
Inadequate emergency equipment also worsened the disaster. Daegu subway trains were not equipped with fire extinguishers, and the stations lacked sprinklers and emergency lighting. Many victims became disoriented in the dark, smoke-filled underground station and died of asphyxiation looking for exits. Emergency ventilation systems also proved inadequate. Over 1,300 fire and emergency personnel responded and the fire itself was extinguished around 1:38 p.m.; however, the toxicity of the smoke prevented them from entering the station for another three and a half hours.
Victims
The intensity of the fire made it difficult to accurately assess the number of victims. Most were burned beyond recognition, many to the bone, and required DNA analysis to identify. A total of 192 people were confirmed to have perished. Of the bodies found, 185 were identifiable; six could not initially be identified, of which three were discovered using DNA; and one person's possessions were identified but their remains could not be located.
As the incident occurred late in the morning rush hour, most of the victims were students or young women who worked in the downtown district's department stores, which opened at 10:30 a.m. Many were able to contact loved ones on their mobile phones, and mobile phone operators released call connection and attempt records to help authorities determine who was in the station.
Aftermath
Remodeled Jungangno station 4 years later
The incident prompted outpourings of sympathy and anger from throughout South Korea and internationally.
Officials promised to install better safety equipment in subway stations, and added spray-on fire resistant chemicals to the interiors of the cars of the Daegu Metropolitan Subway.[citation needed] Six stations were taken out of service for refurbishment and restored in April 2003. The tragedy was considered by many a national embarrassment, provoking debate about whether South Korea had cut too many corners in safety during its rapid industrialization. Several metro trains throughout the country were subsequently refurbished to improve fire-resistant standards within a few years of the accident.
On August 7, the Daegu District Court convicted Choi Sang-yeol, operator of train 1080, and Choi Jeong-hwan, operator of train 1079, sentencing them to prison for five and four years respectively for criminal negligence. Kim Dae-han was convicted of arson and homicide. Although prosecutors, with the support of victims' families, had sought the death penalty, the court instead sentenced him to life imprisonment on account of his remorse and mental instability.[2] Kim died of a chronic illness in prison on August 31, 2004, in the city of Jinju, where he had been receiving medical treatment.[3]
In December 2008, the Daegu Safety Theme Park opened. The goal was to educate the inhabitants of Daegu about safety.[4]
Choi Sang-yeol could not be located for 10 hours after the accident, and investigators later discovered he had made contact with officials from the subway corporation during that time. The master key from train 1080 was found in an office at the Ansim train depot. Omissions from transcripts of radio communications also heightened suspicion of an attempted cover-up.
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This article includes a list of general references but it lacks sufficient corresponding inline citations Please help to improve this article by introducing more precise citations February 2018 Learn how and when to remove this template message This article may be expanded with text translated from the corresponding article in Korean February 2023 Click show for important translation instructions Machine translation like DeepL or Google Translate is a useful starting point for translations but translators must revise errors as necessary and confirm that the translation is accurate rather than simply copy pasting machine translated text into the English Wikipedia Consider adding a topic to this template there are already 490 articles in the main category and specifying topic will aid in categorization Do not translate text that appears unreliable or low quality If possible verify the text with references provided in the foreign language article You must provide copyright attribution in the edit summary accompanying your translation by providing an interlanguage link to the source of your translation A model attribution edit summary is Content in this edit is translated from the existing Korean Wikipedia article at ko 대구 지하철 화재 참사 see its history for attribution You should also add the template Translated ko 대구 지하철 화재 참사 to the talk page For more guidance see Wikipedia Translation The Daegu subway fire occurred on February 18 2003 when an arsonist set fire to a train 192 people died and 151 others were injured at the Jungangno station of the Daegu Metropolitan Subway in Daegu South Korea The fire had spread across two trains within minutes It remains the deadliest deliberate loss of life in a single incident in South Korean peacetime history succeeding the previous record set by a 1982 mass shooting Daegu subway fireFiremen inspect the wreckage of a train car post fireLocationJungangno station Daegu South KoreaDateFebruary 18 2003 20 years ago 2003 02 18 9 53 a m KST TargetDaegu Metropolitan SubwayAttack typeArson mass murder attempted suicide attackWeaponsTwo milk cartons filled with a flammable liquidDeaths192Injured151 including the perpetrator PerpetratorKim Dae hanMotiveAttempt to commit suicide in a public place Contents 1 Arsonist 2 Arson 2 1 Errors compounding the disaster 3 Victims 4 Aftermath 4 1 Investigation and cover up 5 See also 6 References 7 Further readingArsonist EditThe arsonist Kim Dae han Hangul 김대한 Hanja 金大漢 was a 56 year old unemployed former taxi driver who had suffered a stroke in November 2001 that left him partly paralyzed Kim was dissatisfied with his medical treatment and had expressed sentiments of violence and depression he later told police he wanted to kill himself but to do so in a crowded place rather than alone By most accounts on the morning of February 18 he boarded train 1079 on Line 1 in the direction of Daegok Station carrying a duffel bag that contained two green milk cartons filled with a flammable liquid possibly paint thinner or gasoline Arson EditAs the train left Banwoldang station around 9 53 a m Kim began fumbling with the cartons and a cigarette lighter alarming other passengers who tried to stop him In the struggle one of the cartons spilled and its liquid contents caught fire as the train pulled into Jungangno station in downtown Daegu Kim his back and legs on fire managed to escape along with many passengers on train 1079 but within two minutes the fire had spread to all six cars The fire spread quickly in the insulation between the layers of aluminum that form the shell of the cars the vinyl and plastic materials in seat cushions and strap handles and heavy plastic matting on the floors 1 producing thick smoke as it burned Errors compounding the disaster Edit Smoke damaged lockers and ATM The operator of the train Choi Jeong hwan Hangul 최정환 Hanja 崔政煥 aged 31 failed to notify subway officials immediately of the fire Smoke being visible on their closed circuit television monitors subway officials radioed the operator of train 1080 Choi Sang yeol Hangul 최상열 Hanja 崔相烈 advising him to proceed with caution because there was a fire in the station Train 1080 entered Jungangno station and stopped alongside blazing train 1079 approximately four minutes later The doors opened only briefly then shut apparently in an effort to keep out the toxic smoke that had filled the station Shortly after train 1080 s arrival an automatic fire detector shut down the power supply to both trains preventing train 1080 from leaving the station Transcripts show Choi Sang yeol made three announcements advising passengers in train 1080 to remain seated while he attempted to reach superiors Finally he was advised Quickly run somewhere else Go up kill the engine and go Choi then opened the doors and fled but in doing so he removed the master key which led to a shutdown of the onboard batteries that powered the train doors and effectively sealed passengers inside Later investigation showed that 79 passengers remained trapped inside train 1080 and died there Inadequate emergency equipment also worsened the disaster Daegu subway trains were not equipped with fire extinguishers and the stations lacked sprinklers and emergency lighting Many victims became disoriented in the dark smoke filled underground station and died of asphyxiation looking for exits Emergency ventilation systems also proved inadequate Over 1 300 fire and emergency personnel responded and the fire itself was extinguished around 1 38 p m however the toxicity of the smoke prevented them from entering the station for another three and a half hours Victims EditThe intensity of the fire made it difficult to accurately assess the number of victims Most were burned beyond recognition many to the bone and required DNA analysis to identify A total of 192 people were confirmed to have perished Of the bodies found 185 were identifiable six could not initially be identified of which three were discovered using DNA and one person s possessions were identified but their remains could not be located As the incident occurred late in the morning rush hour most of the victims were students or young women who worked in the downtown district s department stores which opened at 10 30 a m Many were able to contact loved ones on their mobile phones and mobile phone operators released call connection and attempt records to help authorities determine who was in the station Aftermath Edit Remodeled Jungangno station 4 years later The incident prompted outpourings of sympathy and anger from throughout South Korea and internationally Officials promised to install better safety equipment in subway stations and added spray on fire resistant chemicals to the interiors of the cars of the Daegu Metropolitan Subway citation needed Six stations were taken out of service for refurbishment and restored in April 2003 The tragedy was considered by many a national embarrassment provoking debate about whether South Korea had cut too many corners in safety during its rapid industrialization Several metro trains throughout the country were subsequently refurbished to improve fire resistant standards within a few years of the accident On August 7 the Daegu District Court convicted Choi Sang yeol operator of train 1080 and Choi Jeong hwan operator of train 1079 sentencing them to prison for five and four years respectively for criminal negligence Kim Dae han was convicted of arson and homicide Although prosecutors with the support of victims families had sought the death penalty the court instead sentenced him to life imprisonment on account of his remorse and mental instability 2 Kim died of a chronic illness in prison on August 31 2004 in the city of Jinju where he had been receiving medical treatment 3 In December 2008 the Daegu Safety Theme Park opened The goal was to educate the inhabitants of Daegu about safety 4 Investigation and cover up Edit This section does not cite any sources Please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources Unsourced material may be challenged and removed May 2022 Learn how and when to remove this template message Choi Sang yeol could not be located for 10 hours after the accident and investigators later discovered he had made contact with officials from the subway corporation during that time The master key from train 1080 was found in an office at the Ansim train depot Omissions from transcripts of radio communications also heightened suspicion of an attempted cover up See also Edit South Korea portal Law portal1995 Baku Metro fire Chengdu bus fire King s Cross Fire List of transportation firesReferences Edit Subway fire toll rises much higher International Herald Tribune March 27 2003 Retrieved 27 Feb 2003 S Korean Man Gets Life for Fatal Subway Fire People s Daily 2003 08 06 Retrieved 2017 01 07 Victims families remember deadly Daegu subway fire koreatimes 2016 02 18 Retrieved 2018 06 01 Daegu Safety Theme Park 대구시민안전테마파크 Official Korea Tourism Organization english visitkorea or kr Retrieved 2018 06 01 Further reading Edit Wikimedia Commons has media related to Daegu subway fire iCivilEngineer Engineering Failure Watch South Korean Subway Fire Soo Jeong Subway horror Errors revealed Associated Press Hwang Sun yoon 200 dead missing in Daegu arson Joong Ang Ilbo February 19 2003 Byun Duk kun Slow Response Causes More Death Hankook Ilbo February 18 2003 Dozens Dead Hundreds Injured Missing in South Korea Subway Fire CNN Transcript February 18 2003 Anger mounts over Korean fire BBC News February 20 2003 Kirk Don Effort to Fix Responsibility for Deadly Korean Subway Fire The New York Times February 21 2003 Fire Alarm Ignored and Not Immediately Informed Dong A Ilbo February 23 2003 Christensen Geir Letter to the Editor The Daegu Subway Fire February 25 2003 Death Toll in Daegu Is Likely to Reach 200 Dong A Ilbo February 26 2003 Subway official told driver of train to leave passengers Joong Ang Ilbo February 26 2003 Choi Jie ho Safety first and 2d 3d 4th Joong Ang Ilbo April 8 2003 Arsonist to serve life in Daegu subway fire Joong Ang Ilbo August 7 2003 Daegu Subway Fire photo slideshow Coordinates 35 52 16 N 128 35 39 E 35 87111 N 128 59417 E 35 87111 128 59417 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Daegu subway fire amp oldid 1140442136, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
