A woman in her 90s and her daughter in her 60s who died in an apartment fire in Suwon, Gyeonggi Province, were confirmed to have died from the fire itself, according to autopsy results. The National Forensic Service concluded from a detailed autopsy that both were alive when the fire broke out, citing soot found inside their respiratory tracts.
Police at the Suwon Gwonseon Police Station said on the 30th of last month that they had received a detailed autopsy report from the National Forensic Service stating that the deaths of the mother and daughter were "presumed to have been caused by the fire." The fire broke out at about 4:35 a.m. on the 8th of last month in a second-floor unit of a 13-story apartment building in Gwonseon-dong, Gwonseon-gu, Suwon. Firefighters extinguished the blaze in about 20 minutes, but the two women were found dead in the master bedroom.
The controversy began with the initial autopsy. In verbal findings delivered to police on the 10th of last month, the National Forensic Service reported that carbon monoxide levels in the bodies were lower than those typically found in fire victims. Fire victims generally show elevated blood levels because they inhale carbon monoxide produced during combustion. That raised the possibility that the two had died before the fire, and police investigated while keeping open several scenarios, including arson.
The detailed autopsy pointed elsewhere. Soot was found in the lungs and bronchial tubes of both women. Soot in the airways indicates that breathing continued after the fire started, which contradicts the theory that they died beforehand. No toxic substances were detected, and there were no external wounds suggesting homicide. Police analyzed closed-circuit television footage and communication records around the residence but found no signs of a break-in or involvement by a third party.
The cause of the fire has not been determined. Damage to the unit where the two lived was so severe that a joint examination by police, the National Forensic Service and fire authorities concluded the cause could not be determined. "Since there is no indication of a crime and the cause of death has been confirmed as the fire, we plan to close the case as an ordinary fire soon," a police official said. The two women reportedly had difficulty moving because of their advanced age and chronic illnesses.
