FATAL CONSEQUENCES

Woman’s Cockroach Burn Attempt Sparks Deadly Apartment Fire

A South Korean woman’s attempt to kill a cockroach kills a mother in her apartment building.

A woman who tried to kill a cockroach with a lighter and flammable spray accidentally set her apartment building on fire, killing one resident. According to the BBC, the woman is in her 20s and told police in Osan, South Korea, that she had used this cockroach-killing method before. The neighbor who died in the fire was reportedly in her 30s and lived with her husband and 2-month-old baby. She reportedly tried to escape the blaze by climbing out of the window of her fifth-floor apartment and into the window of the adjacent unit. While her husband and baby successfully made it across, the woman fell and was taken to the hospital, where she was later pronounced dead. Local media reports that eight other residents inhaled smoke and were injured, but their lives are not in danger. Osan police held a pre-arrest interrogation, and the woman could be charged with negligent arson and negligent homicide. The police will conduct further investigations into the case before transferring it to the prosecution.