Nepalese Worker Killed in Motel Fire

A 35-year-old Nepalese worker was one of two people killed in a fire Sunday morning in Seosan, South Chungcheong Province

Gurung Bahad perished when the blaze struck the motel he was residing in. Seven others were severely injured in the fire.

When the firefighters went into the motel, the flames were spreading to the second and third floors, police and firefighters said.

The fire completely burned down 12 rooms on the second and third floors apart from the restaurant on the building’s first floor. It was brought under control in 50 minutes.

Seven people were immediately rescued after arriving at the scene, but one person was found dead in the hall on the second floor and another corpse was discovered in a room on the third. Bahad was one of them.

The motel had extremely tiny rooms placed close to each other on the second and third floors. Many foreign laborers stayed there for a long time due to the low rent.

Bahad first came to Korea in October 2000 and had been staying at Room 201 for 200,000 won (170 U.S. dollars) per month since August this year. He reportedly did manual work after a job placement agency in the neighborhood found him a job.

When his legal period of sojourn ended in April 2005, he continued to stay in Korea illegally.

doyoce@donga.com