Busan gun range fire likely killed eight Japanese

BUSAN, South Korea — Eight of the 10 people killed by a fire at an indoor shooting range in Busan, South Korea, were likely Japanese, local fire officials said Sunday.

Tragic trip: Family members of one of the eight Japanese believed to have died in a shooting range fire in Busan, South Korea, grieve Sunday at a city hospital where the bodies are being identified. KYODO PHOTO

Eleven Japanese were using the shooting range Saturday when the fire occurred — nine from a group from Unzen, Nagasaki Prefecture, that was touring Busan as part of a school reunion, and two men from Fukuoka and Miyazaki prefectures who were in a different tour group.

Since three from the Unzen group were hospitalized and the rest cannot be accounted for, eight are presumed to have died.

The other two fatalities were probably South Koreans — the tour guide for the reunion and an employee from the gun range — officials from the Busan Fire Department said.

Three non-Japanese also were injured by the fire, they said.

Final identification of the bodies will probably take time. Department spokesman Lee Young Chul said all were severely burned and will likely require DNA analysis.

The families of the presumed victims arrived in Busan aboard a high-speed ferry from Fukuoka on Sunday afternoon and viewed the bodies later in the day.

South Korea's tourism minister offered an apology to the victims and their families.

"I'm offering my words of sincere condolence," Culture, Sports and Tourism Minister Yu In Chon said in a statement.

The Japanese Consulate General in Busan meanwhile set up a task force to deal with the accident, officials said.

The blaze started at around 2:25 p.m. Saturday while eleven Japanese from two tour groups were using the range, which is on the second floor of a five-story building. It swept through the facility and was extinguished about 40 minutes later, the police said.

Masaru Kasahara, one of three Japanese seriously injured by the fire, said he saw blazing red flames and heard an explosion.

"Then it became so dark I couldn't see anything and struggled to make my way down the stairs. I have no memory of what happened after I saw a light," Kasahara, 37, said, adding that he doesn't have any idea what caused the blaze.

Kasahara and a man identified as Yohei Harada, 36, were said to be in serious condition at the intensive care unit of a local hospital and unable to move. Harada was on a respirator. The third injured man was identified as Akira Shimada, 37.

Another witness also said he heard an explosion.

"A black column of smoke soared into the sky right after a sudden bang near the shooting range," Keum Seong Hwan was quoted by Yonhap news agency as saying. "A group of Japanese tourists ran out of the building with their bodies on fire."

Most of the fatalities were believed to have been caused by severe burns or smoke inhalation, Yonhap reported.

The people in the nine-member group, aside from the three injured, were identified as Hideteru Araki, 36, Atsunobu Inada, 37, Akira Okubo, 37, Kazunobu Nakao, 37, Taiki Maeda, 36, and Hidetaka Miyazaki, 36. All attended the same elementary and junior high schools in Unzen. Their tour, organized by Shimatetsu Kanko of Shimabara, arrived by ferry earlier in the day and was set to return Sunday, the police said.

The Fukuoka and Miyazaki men were identified as Masahiro Ochiai, 56, and Masanori Nagahama, 57, Yonhap said, quoting police officials.