At least 38 people have died after a devastating fire broke out at a construction site near South Korea’s capital, Seoul.
The blaze, which has become one of the worst the country has seen in recent years, erupted early on Wednesday afternoon.
An explosion triggered the deadly blaze while construction teams were working on an underground level at the site, giving them no chance to escape, the local fire chief suspected.
Officials said 38 people had been killed and that the death toll could rise as more people were trapped inside the warehouse in Icheon, just south of the capital.
Dramatic images from the scene showed several fire engines and more than a dozen ambulances surrounding the badly damaged structure. Rescue workers in white protective suits were seen carrying out victims in body bags.
Eight construction workers were being treated for serious injuries at nearby hospitals while two others were slightly hurt.
Officials said about 30 workers managed to escape but at least one was unaccounted for.
An investigation into the cause of the fire has been launched.
"There was no clothing left (on the workers) at all," said Seo Seung-hyun, head of the Icheon fire department.
"We presume that an ignition of oil mist caused an explosion and that the sudden combustion gave the workers no chance to escape."
Mr Seo said victims who died on other floors probably inhaled toxic gas.
He said more than 400 firefighters and rescue workers and about 120 vehicles were deployed to the scene.
The country's president Moon Jae-in called for officials to mobilise "all available resources" in the search and rescue operation, while Prime Minster Chung Sye-kyun visited the site to inspect the efforts.
South Korea, one of Asia's richest economies, has struggled for decades to improve safety standards and change widespread attitudes that treat safety as subservient to economic progress and convenience.
Icheon was the site of another massive fire in 2008 when 40 workers died at a refrigerated warehouse.
Forty-six people died in 2018 when a fire ripped through a small hospital with no sprinkler systems in the southern city of Miryang.
