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SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA - A SUSPECTED arson attack sparked a fire at a residential complex in South Korea early on Friday that left six people dead and four seriously injured, police and firefighters said.
Firefighters called to tackle the pre-dawn blaze on the ninth floor of a 10-storey building in Yongin city, south of the capital Seoul, were unable to rescue the victims on time.
'We suspect arson,' a firefighter told journalists. He said the fire had started at two different rooms almost at the same time. 'Somebody might have set fire to the rooms one after the other,' he added.
Most of the victims suffered smoke inhalation in the tightly-packed maze of narrow corridors and 63 tiny rooms.
'The victims were trapped in smoke in the maze-like structure,' another firefighter said. 'Room No. 6 and part of corridors were burnt down, but the fire did not burn most of the other rooms.'
There are many such lodgings in Seoul and its suburbs, which are popular with students and low-income wage earners because of their cheap rents.
Eight more people were taken to hospital with minor injuries and have now been released, police said. -- AFP
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