At least four died and more than 40 others were injured in a fire at a shopping mall in South Korea on Saturday. The police suspect that sparks from a welding torch might have trigered the fire in a kids' play area in the Metapolis mall in Dongtan, a commuter town south of Seoul.
The authorities said two of the four deceased were builders while the other two were a mall worker and a shopper. Most of the injured people have complained of smoke inhalation. According to reports, the play area was closed at the time of the fire.
The fire uthorities noted that welding torches were blamed for the plast fire accidents and urged the builders to follow safety regulations.
In December 2008, a warehouse fire in the eastern city of Icheon killed eight people while another shopping mall fire at a bus terminal in Koyang, north of Seoul killed nine and injured 60.
