2024 AriCell Tragedy: Families Demand Complete Recovery of Remains Before Second Anniversary

Translation result [Herald Economy=Reporter Jeon Sae-nal] Bereaved relatives of victims who died in a 2024 fire at Aricell, a primary battery maker in Hwaseong, say some human remains may still be at the site.

The Aricell Industrial Accident Victims’ Families Council and the Aricell Major Disaster Response Committee held a press conference on the 17th in front of the Blue House fountain in Jongno-gu. They demanded the government conduct a renewed recovery of remains, saying only a few of the 23 bodies recovered after the disaster were intact.

The groups said the government retrieved 21 fragments and handed them to families, and had maintained there were no unidentified fragments. They called that claim plainly untrue, adding that many families held funerals for loved ones who were missing parts below the elbow or below the knee.

Despite repeated requests to resume recovery efforts, officials have only told them to “wait because of collapse risk,” and the families say there has been no progress in the past year and ten months.

The families and the committee urged the government to set a recovery schedule before the disaster’s second anniversary in June, saying proper mourning can begin only after the bodies are fully recovered.

After the press conference, the families and committee met with an official from the Blue House’s Office of the Senior Secretary for Public Listening.