Fire broke out at two buildings in Yeoksam-dong in Gangnam-gu, southern Seoul, on Tuesday, inflicting severe injuries on one person and minor injuries on 18 others.
Officials at the Gangnam Fire Station said a fire broke out on the third floor of one of the buildings at around 11:54 a.m. One person suffered cardiac arrest, while 10 others sustained minor injuries such as smoke inhalation.
Another 60 people in the building fled the scene on their own.
A separate fire broke out on the fourth floor of another building in the district just minutes later, at around 12:01 p.m. The second fire inflicted injuries on eight people, none of which appear to be serious.
Fire authorities said the two fires appear unrelated as of now.
Local fire authorities launched a Level 1 response, deploying 115 personnel and 56 pieces of equipment to put out the fire. They will investigate the cause as soon as they extinguish the fire.
minsikyoon@heraldcorp.com