South Korean police say they will seek an arrest warrant for a woman accused of setting her apartment building on fire while trying to kill a cockroach with an improvised flamethrower.
According to local media reports, the incident occurred on Monday, October 20, in the city of Osan, south of Seoul. The woman, said to be in her 20s, told police she attempted to eliminate the insect using a lighter and a can of flammable spray, a method she admitted to having used before. However, the fire quickly spread to nearby items in her home, engulfing the apartment.
Tragically, one of her neighbors, a Chinese national in her 30s, died after falling from a fifth-floor window while attempting to escape the blaze. Her husband and their two-month-old baby survived after the couple managed to pass the infant through a window to neighbors in an adjacent building.
Police said the couple likely tried to flee through the window because heavy smoke had blocked the stairway. The husband managed to climb across to the next block, but his wife slipped and later died in hospital from her injuries.
The building, which has commercial shops on the ground floor and 32 residential units above, sustained significant damage. At least eight other residents were treated for smoke inhalation.
Authorities are considering charges of negligent homicide and causing fire through carelessness against the woman.
Police noted that using fire or homemade flamethrowers to kill pests has become an alarming trend, popularized by viral videos on social media. A similar incident in Australia in 2018 saw a man accidentally set his kitchen on fire while trying to burn cockroaches with an insect spray and lighter.
