A fire broke out at an apartment building in Seoul’s Yangcheon-gu district on Monday morning, prompting the evacuation of 46 residents and causing an estimated 42 million won in property damage, according to fire officials.
The blaze erupted around 8:02 a.m. In the underground parking garage of a 23-story apartment complex, originating in a recycling storage area, reported Yonhap News Agency. Firefighters battled the flames for over nine hours, finally bringing the fire under control at approximately 6:18 p.m. The fire spread to the underground first floor, which houses commercial spaces.
Whereas a large-scale evacuation was ordered, initial reports indicated only 42 residents experienced smoke inhalation, but were not hospitalized. However, the fire suppression efforts were hampered by a subsequent explosion, injuring 17 firefighters, eleven of whom required hospital treatment. A 90-year-old resident, trapped on the roof, was rescued by helicopter.
The incident echoes a series of recent apartment fires across South Korea. In February 2026, a fire in Seoul’s Eunma Apartment complex was reportedly first reported by a 10th-grade student who later died in the blaze, according to MBN News. In August 2025, a fire in a 20-story apartment building in Mapo-gu, Seoul, resulted in the deaths of a mother and son and injured 13 others, with investigations revealing the building lacked a sprinkler system, as reported by Daum News. A separate incident in February 2026, a fire in a 15-story apartment in Seoul’s Seodaemun-gu district, left one 80-year-old man dead and one 20-year-old woman injured. That fire was extinguished in 21 minutes.
Authorities have not yet determined the cause of the Monday fire in Yangcheon-gu, and investigations are ongoing. The Seoul Fire Department deployed 349 personnel and 93 pieces of equipment to the scene, according to Yonhap News. The extent of the structural damage to the apartment building remains under assessment.
