Seoul: Seven persons were killed and around 30 were trapped in fire at a warehouse in south of Seoul, officials reported on Monday.  

A fire fighter, Kim Jung-geun, said that as the fire burst through the two-story warehouse in Icheon, 80 kilometers, south of Seoul. Around 35 construction workers were cornered.

Before recovering 7 bodies, fire officials battled the fire blaze for hours, witnesses told.

“The rescue work has been temporarily suspended due to toxic fumes and blazes yet to be fully put down,” said a source present at the place of incident.     

Twenty-one workers managed to escape the fire, and nine of them were hospitalized after inhaling fumes, said the Icheon fire department.

“An initial report says 56 people were working at the time of fire, and 35 of them failed to escape it,” an Icheon fire department official said.

“The total number could be bigger or less. We don’t know it yet. The fire apparently started in the warehouse basement where workers were using flammable painting materials,” added the official.

So far, the actual cause of fire was not known.