Campsite fire kills five in South Korea
An investigation was underway to determine the cause of the blaze.
SEOUL (AFP) - A fire swept through a South Korean camping site on Sunday, killing five people including three children and injuring two others, firefighters said.
The dead victims -- all from two families -- were asleep when the fire broke out, ravaging their tent close to an island beach near the western city of Incheon.
"The tent was completely gutted within a minute," Ryoo Hwan-Hyeong, head of the Ganghwa Island fire station, told journalists.
An investigation was underway to determine the cause of the blaze, but firefighters suspect a short circuit in the victims electric sleeping mat may have triggered the fire.
The two injured included a 43-year-old man surnamed Park, who was sleeping in another tent nearby.
"I was awaken by the flame early in the morning. I ran out of my tent and saw a boy standing outside the burning tent. I took him to safety but others had no chance," Park was quoted as saying by Yonhap news agency.
The boy suffered burn injuries and Park was being treated for smoke inhalation.
