POSCO Pohang Steelworks Fire...It's been two hours since the fire started.

[Anchor]
A big fire broke out at POSCO Pohang Steelworks in Pohang, Gyeongsangbuk-do early today (10th).

The fire authorities issued the first stage of response and started extinguishing the fire, but a big fire was put out a while ago.

I'm connecting to the Ministry of Social Affairs, reporter Son Hyo-jung!

Please tell me about the fire extinguishing situation.

[Reporter]
Yes, a fire was reported to the fire authorities at 4:20 a.m. this morning at POSCO Pohang Steelworks in Pohang, North Gyeongsang Province.

There were a series of related reports on YTN.

If you look at the report screen taken of the POSCO plant, you can see red flames and smoke rising around the factory.

The informants said that even though it was 10 kilometers away from POSCO, they felt the windows shaking or heard loud explosions several times.

Let's listen to it for ourselves.

[Seo Jae-min / POSCO Fire Witness: I heard explosions five or six times, so I woke up and saw that there was a lot of fire. The explosion was loud, so I think it was a little louder than the sound of thunder.]

[Posco Fire Witness] I woke up when I heard an explosion while I was sleeping. I thought there was an earthquake. So I looked at it, at first, flames were rising and smoke was rising. It will take about 30 minutes by car (to the fire).]

Within 30 minutes of receiving the report, the fire department issued the first stage of the response to mobilize all the personnel of the competent fire department,

Two hours and 20 minutes later, we caught a big fire at around 6:40 a.m.

The fire is believed to have started at the "3 Finex plant" in Pohang Steelworks.

The FINEX plant is a furnace-like facility that produces molten metal, but the specific details of the fire or the extent of the damage have not yet been determined.

So far, it has been confirmed that one employee in the factory has been injured by the fire.

He was taken to the hospital with burns of about 1 to 2 degrees on his face and hands.

More than 10 employees near the scene of the fire were also found to have been evacuated.

However, further investigation is needed to determine whether the explosion occurred inside the factory and how the fire started.

Fire authorities are working on extinguishing the fire while maintaining the first stage of response, but it will take more time to fully extinguish it.

So far, the Ministry of Social Affairs has informed you.