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Authorities confirm identities of all 23 deceased in Hwaseong battery plant fire

June 27, 2024 - 20:01 By Yonhap

Flowers are displayed at a memorial altar set up in Ansan, Gyeonggi Province, Thursday, to pay respect to victims who list their lives in a fire at a lithium battery factory. (Yonhap)

HWASEONG -- Authorities said Thursday they have confirmed the identities of all 23 people killed in the fire at a lithium battery factory south of Seoul, three days after the blaze that took the lives of many foreign workers.

Police received the DNA results of six more victims from the National Forensic Service, making the identification process for all 23 deceased individuals complete, the Gyeonggi Nambu Provincial Police investigating the case said.

The fire at the Aricell lithium battery plant in Hwaseong, 45 kilometers south of Seoul, left 23 workers killed and eight others injured, with one of them in serious condition.

Seventeen of those killed were Chinese -- three men and 14 women -- with five others turning out to be Koreans and one being a Laotian woman.

The results have been delivered to the bereaved family members, and they should be able to help speed up the funeral procedures, the police added.