The first joint on-site inspection to determine the cause of the fire at the Safe Industries factory in the Daedeok Industrial Complex in Daejeon — which produced 74 casualties, including 14 fatalities — concluded after roughly six hours.
Beginning at 10:40 a.m. on the 23rd, a joint team of 59 personnel from seven agencies, including police, firefighters, the National Forensic Service and labor authorities, entered the site and completed their inspection around 5 p.m.
Two relatives of the victims also joined the inspection to observe the interior and help ensure transparency in the process.
Investigators have not yet secured internal CCTV footage, making it difficult to pinpoint the initial ignition point and the exact cause. Police say the fire most likely began along the factory’s first-floor processing line.
Authorities have collected witness statements indicating the blaze first emerged from a first-floor ventilation duct. Based on those accounts, they plan a detailed examination focused on the processing line and will closely inspect the on-site gym where many victims were located.
Nine of the 14 fatalities were found in that space. The area does not appear on the building’s official plans and is believed to have been an illegal extension.
The inspection team is also probing whether cutting oil, built-up grease, and sludge in equipment and piping accelerated the rapid spread of the fire.
After further deliberation, officials said additional joint inspections will be carried out if necessary.
\"Today we conducted an overall inspection rather than a narrow, focused sweep,\" said Kang Jae-seok, head of the Forensic Investigation Division at the Daejeon Police Agency. \"We will carry out a thorough, detailed examination of the first-floor processing line and the rest area where the fire appears to have started. Because parts of the building are unstable due to collapse, we will perform precise forensic analyses to produce definitive results.\"
