Police in South Korea plan to arrest a woman accused of accidentally setting her apartment building on fire while trying to kill a cockroach with a makeshift flamethrower, an incident that led to the death of a neighbor who fell while attempting to escape.
The fire broke out around 5:35 a.m. Monday in Osan, south of Seoul, when the woman in her 20s tried to burn a cockroach using a homemade device made from a lighter and an aerosol spray, police said.
According to investigators, the flames spread quickly after catching her bed, a pile of trash, and other items in the apartment. The woman escaped unhurt, but smoke trapped several residents on higher floors.
A couple on the fifth floor was unable to flee through the hallway and opened a window to call for help. Their apartment was less than a meter away from a neighboring building, allowing them to pass their two-and-a-half-month-old baby to a man in the next building. The husband then jumped safely across, but his wife — a Chinese national in her 30s — fell between the buildings and later died at a hospital.
Eight other residents were treated for smoke inhalation, authorities said. Police plan to seek an arrest warrant for the woman on suspicion of causing death by negligence.
The BBC reported that using improvised flamethrowers to kill cockroaches has become increasingly common, fueled by social media videos showing people attempting the dangerous method. In 2018, an Australian man accidentally set his kitchen on fire while trying to kill cockroaches with a similar homemade device.