Smoke billows from the sixth floor of a Coupang Inc logistics center in Seoknam-dong, Seohaegu, Incheon, on Saturday. No casualties have been reported so far. [Yonhap]
Smoke billows from the sixth floor of a Coupang Inc logistics center in Seoknam-dong, Seohaegu, Incheon, on Saturday. No casualties have been reported so far. [Yonhap]

Coupang Inc issued a formal apology Saturday over a major fire at its logistics center in Seohaegu, Incheon, and said it would fully support firefighting operations and cooperate with authorities investigating the cause.

The company released an official statement under the name of CEO Jeong Jong-cheol, saying it "sincerely apologizes to residents of Incheon and the public for the great concern caused by this fire."

Jeong said the company called 119 immediately upon detecting the fire and that fire authorities responded quickly. "Through systematic evacuation guidance, all 121 employees who were inside the logistics center at the time evacuated safely without any casualties," he said.

With firefighting operations dragging on, Jeong said the safety of firefighters battling the blaze would be the company's top priority. He added that the company would spare no material or human resources to ensure firefighting operations proceeded without disruption, and would actively cooperate with relevant authorities in their investigation into the cause of the fire.

The fire broke out at around 6:54 a.m. Saturday on the sixth floor of Coupang's No. 32 logistics center in Seoknam-dong, Seohaegu — an eight-story building with a total floor area of 299,000 square meters. Large quantities of flammable materials stored inside and intense heat have allowed the flames to spread along the outer walls to the seventh floor, hampering efforts to bring the blaze under control.

Fire authorities issued successive emergency response alerts in the morning before declaring a national fire mobilization order at 3:15 p.m., marshaling firefighting resources from across the country. More than 13 hours into the response, the blaze had yet to be fully extinguished.


silverpaper@heraldcorp.com