BUCHEON, South Korea (AP) — A fire at a South Korean hotel that killed seven people may have been worsened by the lack of a sprinkler system, fire officials said Friday as they investigated the cause of the blaze.

At least 12 people were treated for injuries related to the fire that broke out in the nine-story building in the city of Bucheon, west of the capital Seoul, on Thursday evening.

Officials said the fire did not spread widely after it broke out in an unoccupied room on the 8th floor. However, because the room was not protected by sprinklers, toxic smoke quickly filled the upper floors. Most of the victims were found in the rooms and hallways on the 8th and 9th floors.

Lee Sang-don, an official at the Bucheon fire station, said the hotel, which was built in 2003, was not required to have a sprinkler system. While it has been mandatory in South Korea since 2017 to install sprinklers in all buildings with more than six floors, the requirement does not apply retroactively to most older buildings, with the exception of some medical facilities and nursing homes.

“When we got there, (the floors) were already full of smoke, which was also pouring out of the windows,” Lee said in a briefing. He said the fire broke out in Room 810, which was unoccupied, after a guest complained about a burning smell and asked hotel management for a room change.

A joint investigation team examines the site of a hotel that burned down in Thursday’s fire in Bucheon, South Korea, Friday, Aug. 23, 2024. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)

Photo: ASSOCIATED PRESS/Ahn Young-joon

Five of the seven fatalities died from smoke inhalation, said Cho Seon-ho, chief of the Gyeonggi Provincial Fire Department, during a meeting with Interior and Security Minister Lee Sang-min at the scene.

The other two died when they jumped from an 8th-floor window, aiming at an inflatable cushion that firefighters had placed on the ground, Cho said. The first person hit the cushion’s harder edge, causing it to flip over and fatally injuring the second person, who jumped shortly after.

A government team of firefighters, forensic experts and police began an inspection at the site on Friday to determine the cause of the fire. Cho told Lee the fire was likely caused by electrical problems.

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Kim reported from Seoul, South Korea.

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