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SKOREA-CRIME-ARSON
S. Korea arsonist kills 5 neighbours as they flee fire: police
SEOUL, April 17, 2019 (BSS/AFP) – Five people were killed and more than a
dozen others injured by a South Korean man who set his apartment on fire and
stabbed his neighbours as they tried to flee the flames, police said
Wednesday.
Police said the 42-year-old started the fire in the early hours of
Wednesday morning in the southern city of Jinju, and waited on the second
floor of the building to attack people running downstairs from the blaze.
The youngest of the five victims stabbed to death was a 12-year-old girl.
An unnamed resident told Yonhap news agency that he initially tried to
leave the building after hearing the fire alarm but went back to his
apartment after seeing “lots of blood” in the hall.
“I heard he was holding knives in both hands,” the neighbour said.
The arsonist, who was detained at the scene, told police he committed the
crime to defend against “maligning forces”.
BSS/AFP/MSY/1318 hrs