Police book four over state data center fire

Police investigating the fire at the National Information Resources Service computer room have booked four people, including an agency staffer and outside contractors, on suspicion of professional negligence causing a fire. Investigators say mistakes during a battery removal operation are the likely cause.

The Daejeon Metropolitan Police Agency said Oct. 1 that an on-site NIRS manager, two workers handling a battery relocation, and a supervisor from a contracting firm were booked. The four were present on Sept. 26 during the removal of lithium-ion batteries from an uninterruptible power supply in computer room 7-1 on the fifth floor. The blaze broke out during the work, destroying 96 servers and temporarily halting 551 others.

Police have questioned 12 witnesses, including five on-site personnel. One worker hospitalized with burns was briefly interviewed but has not undergone a full formal interview.

Speculation had centered on whether power was left on during the removal. Police said witnesses reported the power had been shut off and electricity-usage records indicate the main battery breakers were down before work began. Because multiple breakers are involved, further forensic checks are under way.

Even with the power cut, insufficiently discharged batteries can ignite. Police are examining whether the batteries were fully discharged and whether residual charge fell to safe levels.

Investigators secured footage from 25 closed-circuit cameras inside and outside the fifth-floor room, but none has captured the exact ignition point. Six batteries believed to have ignited first were sent to the National Forensic Service. One still carried residual current, which was stabilized before detailed examination.


Kim Tae Young live@donga.com