A fire broke out in the basement of a shopping mall in the South Korean city of Daejeon on Monday, killing at least seven people, officials said.
Firefighters were continuing to search for survivors after putting out the fire, said Go Seung-cheol, an official at the Daejeon Fire Headquarters.
He said it was not immediately clear if there were still people missing and that smoke remained in some parts of the building.
The fire broke out around 7:45 a.m. and quickly spread throughout the basement loading dock area, prompting the evacuation of more than 110 people, including mall workers and customers at a nearby hotel.
Officials said the damage could have been worse if the fire had broken out during the mall’s business hours.
More than 500 firefighters and 90 vehicles were deployed to battle the fire, which was extinguished by around 3 p.m., Go said.
Lee Seung-han, a fire official at the Yuseong Fire Department, said six of the people found dead were mall workers and that officials were still trying to identify the other victim.
Firefighters and police are investigating the cause of the fire, while eyewitness reports say the fire may have been caused by an explosion of an electric vehicle that was being charged in the basement.