| Case Name |
Fire in the subway station in Teagu-city,Korea |
| Pictograph |
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| Date |
February 18, 2003 |
| Place |
Teagu-city,Korea |
| Location |
Subway First-line , Tyuoji Station |
| Overview |
In the subway in Teagu-city,Korea,a fire occurred due to the arson by a passenger.The mistakes by a dryver and the commander or the structural problem of the cars and the station made the situation worse;the accident caused 192 death,146 injured. In addition,concealment by the public corporation was revealed. |
| Incident |
In the subway in Teagu-city,Korea,a fire occurred due to the arson by a passenger. Moreover,the oncoming train came into the station and the fire leaped to the oncoming train. 2 trains ,12 rolling stocks were all burned.The fire , smoke and poisonous gases caused 192 deaths, and 146 were injured. |
| Sequence |
At about 9:53am, when the train came into the station, a man suddenly sprinkled inflammable liquid and lit it on the train. First, fire caught the clothes oh the arsonist and seat sheet ,then began to burn rapidly.
According to the hard-and-fast rule,if a fire breaks out,the outcoming train has to stop or pass through the scene.However,in the accident of Korea the commander of the station had not grasped what was happening,and failed to order the trains near the station to stop. As a result ,at 9:56a.m., the oncoming train came into the station.
The driver of the oncoming train shut the doors and tried to start the train in order to escape from the fire. However ,at 9:57a.m., the fire sensoring system had worked and the electricity in the station was stopped automatically,and the fire leaped to the oncoming train.
The driver of the oncoming train got out of the train because he had judged that it is difficult to put out the fire. When the driver got out, he locked the master key of the train, and the doors were automatically closed. The battery emergency didn't operate.The passengers were left inside the train. The fire spread quickly from the lowest floor to the upper floors, so many people could not escape intime. They fell victims by the fire, smoke and poisonous gases.Tn the oncoming train, there were 142 dead bodies. This was 79% of the estimated number of the passengers on the oncoming train and 74% of the whole number of deaths. |
| Cause |
The direct cause is the arson by the passenger.The first one of the indirect causes is that the material of the train was not fireproof but resistant to flames in order to lighten train. This material radically caught fire and produced a large amount of smoke and poisonous gases.In the outcoming train, the connecting part was open, so it burn easily. Therefore, the cornice of the connecting part was made from synthetic resin which is resistant to flames. It makes the speed of fire fast.The second one of the indirect causes is the complicated structure of the station. The platform was on B3 floor, ticket gates on B2 floor, the underground shopping center on B1 floor, and stairs were very complicated, and it was difficult for the passengers to find the evacuation route. The safety design of the space had not assumed this kind of big fire. For example,extinguishing facility , evacuation routes, and the shelter etc. were insufficient. |
| Response |
The Fire-Defense Headquarters in Teagu city recognized the fire accident at 9:54a.m. This is only 1 minute after the break-out. They announced to go there at 9:55,and the first fire-fighter group arrived there at 9:58.
The first report of the fire was given by a citizen's mobile. There was no report from the driver to the commander or from the commander to the fire station.
After the fire fighter arrived, they recognized there ware many death and injured people, and it was difficult to go into the underground floor. They carried out first aid and rescue operations, firstly. After the rescue operations, they tried to fight the fire. |
| Countermeasures |
As a result of the subsequent investigation, the causes, why the simple accident let such a big accident is the faikure of the staffs to act in anatural way. However, the policy of the goverment was focused on the improvement of the facility,for example, to develop the fire-safety-standard of materials to advanced nation level, to change total 6036 rolling stocks by 2007, and to establish emergency light, extinguishing facilities, direct evacuation stairs, light emission guide display in tunnels and stations.But they didn't focus on the human training in any subway companies.
The plans to complete the facility are just ordered without financial support, so there is much doubt as to the plans. |
| Knowledge Comment |
1. Safety design should assume the worst case scenario. It should not ignore the life and safety to have a priority of economic efficiency.
2. Even if the machines or the information systems are high-graded, the workers are required not to put too much trust in them. It is important to touch the actual things and ascertain the reality in the real environment.
3. The managers and workers should be aware of the risk management and make efforts to enhaunce the reliability.
4. Investigation by a third party is necessary.
5. Passengers need to think of the measures to defend themselves. |
| Background |
In Korea, for over 10 years ,from 1990 to 2003, big accidents have occurred frequently including this fire accident in the subway, Sampun department store, Sonsu bridge collapse accident, and The Perry (the sunken ship in the yellow sea) also happened.
The causes of the accidents is the modernization in the short period in Korea.
Therefore, the systematic characteristic of Korea society causes the frequently big accidents which they could have prevented. |
| Sequel |
Teagu subway public corporation tried to conceal and evade their responsibility . They seemed to not try to learn a lesson from this failure for the future because there wasn't information disclosure of the accident causes and procedure.
The first trial of the justice, 5 commanders of the station, both driver, and a station staffs ,total 8 staffs were convicted. |
| Reason for Adding to DB |
Because it is possible that the same situation could occur in Japan |
| Scenario |
| Primary Scenario
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Poor Value Perception, Poor Safety Awareness, Organizational Problems, Poor Management, Insufficient Analysis or Research, Insufficient Practice, Misjudgment, Misjudgment of Situation, Planning and Design, Poor Planning, Non-Regular Action, Emergency Action, Incorrect Reaction, Poor Communication, Malicious Act, Ethics Violation, Failure, Fracture/Damage, Bad Event, Electrical Failure, Failure, Fracture/Damage, Bodily Harm, Death, Bodily Harm, Injury
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| Sources |
Fireside Chats http://blog.goo.ne.jp/ccproducer/
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| Number of Deaths |
192 |
| Number of Injuries |
148 |
| Physical Damage |
Subway rolling stocks, Tyuoji-staion |
| Consequences |
It is required to manage and arrange subway rolling stocks, and inside stations in Japan. |
| Field |
Civil Engineering
|
| Author |
KUNISHIMA, Masahiko (The University of Tokyo)
ASAMI, Erika (The University of Tokyo)
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