Merchants 'devastated rooms' ahead of Chuseok due to the fire that swallowed the fruit market.

[Anchor]
Last night (3rd), Masan Fish Market in Gyeongsangnam-do was burned to ashes.

Merchants who have brought in more fruits than usual ahead of Chuseok are devastated by the great damage.

Reporter Lim Hyung-joon reports.

[Reporter]
The place that burned overnight is the fruit market, which was crowded with customers.

The fruit box was charred, and the items displayed in the dried fish store melted down.

A merchant with 20 years of experience who expected to sell Chuseok.

He looks devastated when he sees a product that has been burned or cannot be sold.

[Jung Kwang-ja / Fruit market merchant: This is the first time I've ever suffered such damage in business. I put a lot of things under the Chuseok section, but I still can't use any of them.. It's my first time doing something like this.]

The fire broke out at Masan Fish Market around 10:10 p.m.

The first stage of response was once issued, mobilizing both the fire department equipment and manpower in charge, as the firestorm spread strongly in places where there was no sprinkler.

It was only two hours after 28 stores suffered large and small damage that the flames finally caught.

It's one of the burned-out stores.

The iron structure that is believed to have supported the shield has fallen down, and the interior is also badly burned, making it difficult to even determine what the store was originally.

Fortunately, the fire authorities prevented the spread of the fire to the fish market right next to it, and there were no major casualties.

The police suspect the fire was caused by an electrical problem.

[Bin Seong-jae / Detective Chief of Masan Jungbu Police Station: It was confirmed by CCTV that the fire ignited in the middle of the fruit and vegetable garden. The cause of the fire seems to be an electrical factor, but we will only know when the results of the National Forensic Service's inspection come out.

A joint inspection was conducted at the site, and the results are expected in 10 days.

I'm YTN's Lim Hyungjun.