Authorities inspect the scene after an explosion at an apartment management office in Sa-dong, Gyeongsan, North Gyeongsang Province, on Thursday morning. [Yonhap]
Authorities inspect the scene after an explosion at an apartment management office in Sa-dong, Gyeongsan, North Gyeongsang Province, on Thursday morning. [Yonhap]

A female apartment management office worker in her 50s who suffered severe burns in an arson attack in Gyeongsan, North Gyeongsang Province, has died after more than a week of hospital treatment.

The death brings the total number of fatalities from the incident to two, following the death of a resident in her 50s on Friday, July 24. The North Gyeongsang Provincial Police Agency said the management office worker, identified only by her surname initial A, died at a burn treatment hospital in Daegu at around 5:35 p.m. Friday.

A had been receiving treatment for full-body burns sustained on July 23, when resident Ryu, 71, doused the apartment management office with a flammable substance and set it on fire.

Police plan to conduct an autopsy soon to determine the exact cause of A's death.

"As she is a victim of a homicide case, an autopsy will be conducted in accordance with standard procedure," a police official said.

The two fatalities are A and another resident, identified as B, a woman also in her 50s, who died the day after the fire on July 24.

Of the five other victims still hospitalized with burns, two are in critical condition.

Suspect Ryu also suffered full-body burns immediately after the attack and was taken to hospital. He is conscious but unable to hold a conversation.

Police said they will proceed with a face-to-face interview with Ryu as soon as his condition improves.

Ryu has been booked on charges of arson of an inhabited building resulting in death and injury. He is accused of pouring a flammable substance inside the apartment management office and setting it ablaze at around 8:29 a.m. on July 23, causing eight casualties including himself.

Police are canvassing people in Ryu's circle and analyzing his mobile phone, seized in a search and seizure operation, along with closed-circuit television footage from the apartment complex, to establish the motive and circumstances of the attack.

Investigators are also reviewing whether to apply the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Crimes — which carries a heavier sentence than the existing charges — if evidence emerges that Ryu set the fire as a targeted act of revenge against specific individuals. Ryu had a long-running dispute with the management office over how the apartment complex was run.


husn7@heraldcorp.com