Most victims were bedridden elderly: A fire in a South Korean hospital, 21 people have died. A dementia patient was arrested on suspicion of arson.

A fire in a hospital in South Korea, 21 people have been killed. Eight people were injured in the early hours of Wednesday, six of them seriously, the authority allocated for emergency management. Police arrested a 81-year-old dementia patient in the clinic Jangseong in the southwest of the country firmly on suspicion of arson. The dead are mainly bedridden patients between 70 and 90 years. But also a nurse and three patients aged between 50 and 60 years of age lost their lives.

The fire broke out on the second floor of an outbuilding of the clinic. The fire was about half an hour under control. The clinic specializes in elderly long-term patients suffering from dementias such as Alzheimer’s disease or a stroke.

The hospital management and firefighters denied speculation, according to which the patients were tied to the bedposts.

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