Deadliest fire in 10 years kills 39 people in South Korean hospital

South Korea's deadliest fire in almost a decade has ripped through a hospital in the city of Miryang, killing at least 39 people and injuring more than 100.

The fire comes less than a month after a similar tragedy left 29 dead in the city of Jecheon, raising concerns over safety standards in the country. Officials said they were still investigating the cause of today's fire, which is believed to have started around 7:20 a.m. local time in the emergency room on the first floor of the 98-bed Sejong Hospital.

Rescue services took three hours to completely extinguish the flames which engulfed the first two floors of the six-story building in Miryang, which is about 270 kilometers (168 miles) south-east of the capital Seoul.

At press briefing, Son Kyung-chul, chairman of Sejong Hospital, said that sprinklers were not installed in the building due to its small size. The majority of those killed in the blaze are believed to be elderly patients, said Chun Jae-kyung, head of the Public medical center in Miryang. "Because the hospital had many intensive care units and elderly patients.

There were a lot of people with breathing problems," Chun said. Most of the deaths were due to smoke inhalation.