A woman in her 30s died after saving her two-month-old baby from a fire in Osan, Gyeonggi province, South Korea.​
The fire broke out at approximately 5:35am local time on 20 Oct 2025 at a five-storey commercial-residential building, reported The Korea Times.​
The Fire’s Origin
A woman in her 20s, living on the second floor, started the blaze while attempting to kill a cockroach using a lighter and aerosol spray.​
She told police she learned the method from YouTube. The technique effectively created a makeshift flamethrower.​
Flames rapidly spread to a nearby bed and piles of trash before spiralling out of control. The woman called emergency services, and firefighters extinguished the blaze within approximately 40 minutes.​
Desperate Escape Attempt
The victim, a Chinese national, lived on the fifth floor with her husband and their infant. Thick smoke from the second-floor fire blocked the emergency staircase, preventing the family from using standard evacuation routes.​
The couple feared the smoke’s impact on their newborn.​
The family opened a window and called for help from their fifth-floor apartment. Their building stood less than one metre from an adjacent structure.​
Neighbours in the next building reached across and safely received the infant through the window. The husband then climbed across to safety.​
Fatal Fall
The mother fell while attempting to climb across to the neighbouring building.​
She sustained critical injuries and was transported to Ajou University Hospital. Doctors pronounced her dead at approximately 10:40am local time, about five hours after the incident began.​
The baby survived unharmed.​
Legal Consequences
Police plan to request an arrest warrant for the second-floor resident who started the fire. She faces charges of fire caused by gross negligence and death by negligence.​
Authorities said the suspect had used the same pest-control method previously without incident.​
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