Subway fire horror
The week's news at a glance.
Daegu, South Korea
At least 120 people burned to death this week when a man lit a firebomb in a crowded subway train in South Korea’s third-largest city. The fire started in a train sitting in a station and quickly spread to another train. Many trapped passengers managed to call relatives on cell phones before suffocating on the fumes. Panicked relatives rushed to the station only to wait three agonizing hours for firefighters to subdue the flames and clear the toxic smoke. The suspected arsonist, Kim Dae-han, 56, is a truck driver with a history of mental illness. YTN television news said Kim had once threatened to burn down a hospital where he said he received poor treatment.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
The curious history of hanging coffinsUnder The Radar Ancient societies in southern China pegged coffins into high cliffsides in burial ritual linked to good fortune
-
The Trump administration says it deports dangerous criminals. ICE data tells a different story.IN THE SPOTLIGHT Arrest data points to an inconvenient truth for the White House’s ongoing deportation agenda
-
Ex-FBI agents sue Patel over protest firingspeed read The former FBI agents were fired for kneeling during a 2020 racial justice protest for ‘apolitical tactical reasons’