A woman in her 20s is facing potential arrest after she allegedly started a fatal apartment fire while attempting to kill a cockroach using a makeshift flamethrower, South Korean police said.
According to a report from the BBC, the woman admitted to using a lighter and a flammable spray to eliminate the insect, an improvised method she claimed to have used before. However, on Monday, her attempt went disastrously wrong when household items caught fire, rapidly engulfing parts of the building.
The blaze, which broke out in the city of Osan, led to the death of one resident, a Chinese national in her 30s. Authorities say the woman and her husband, who lived on the fifth floor with their two-month-old baby, tried to flee the fire after handing their infant to a neighbour through a window. While the husband managed to escape to an adjacent building, the woman fell during the attempt and later died in hospital.
Police believe the couple attempted to escape via the window due to heavy smoke obstructing the stairwell. The building, which includes commercial shops on the ground floor and residential units above, also saw eight other residents suffer from smoke inhalation.
Officers have stated they plan to request an arrest warrant for the woman on charges of accidental arson and causing death by negligence.
The incident has once again highlighted the dangerous trend of using DIY flamethrowers, often inspired by viral social media videos, to deal with household pests.
As the BBC notes, similar incidents have occurred elsewhere, including a 2018 case in Australia where a man set his kitchen ablaze while targeting cockroaches with a homemade device.
Investigations into the Osan fire are ongoing.