Seoul: A fire in a hospital in the South Korean city of Miryang killed eight people and injured more than 50 others, a local fire official said on Friday, with the blaze suspected to have started in a first floor emergency room.
The fire started around 7:30 a.m. (2230 GMT) at the rear of the emergency room of Sejong Hospital and most of it had been put out after a few hours, Choi Man-woo, the head of Miryang fire station, told a televised media briefing.
Miryang is about 270 km (168 miles) southeast of Seoul.
Firefighters were still in the process of evacuating the roughly 200 people inside the main hospital building and nursing home directly behind the hospital, Choi said.
As of the time of the briefing, Choi said 10 people had been critically injured and 35 slightly injured.
Local news channel YTN showed black smoke billowing from the windows and entrance to the hospital and flames flickering.
South Korean Prime Minister Lee Nak-yeon ordered all possible equipment and personnel be used to fight the blaze, adding the hospital should be quickly searched to save as many lives as possible, his office said in a statement.
The fire comes just a month after a fire claimed 29 lives in an eight-storey centre in Jecheon City.