A firefighter examines vehicles ravaged in a fire that started from an electric Mercedes-Benz sedan parked in the underground garage of an apartment building in Incheon on Aug. 1, 2024. (Image courtesy of Yonhap)
SEOUL, Aug. 5 (Korea Bizwire) — An electric Mercedes-Benz sedan had been parked in an underground apartment garage for nearly three days before exploding on its own and catching fire, police officials said Monday.
The mysterious fire gutted the parking lot on the first basement level of an apartment building in Incheon, west of Seoul, and ravaged 40 nearby vehicles last Thursday. About 100 other cars also sustained less serious damage.
More than 20 residents were sent to hospitals for smoke inhalation before the fire was fully extinguished more than eight hours after it started. Heavy smoke made it difficult for firefighters to enter the parking lot.
Security camera footage showed smoke billowing from the vehicle before it suddenly exploded and burst into flames.
According to police findings, the car’s owner in his 40s parked the vehicle on the evening of last Monday, and it remained untouched until it exploded in the early morning of last Thursday.
After examining security camera footage, police confirmed that no external shock was inflicted on the vehicle while it was parked during the period.
The vehicle owner told police that the car had not been driven since it was parked.
Police and forensic investigators were scheduled to jointly examine the vehicle on Monday and plan to collect automobile components for analysis.
(Yonhap)
