The casino at the Jeju Dream Tower resort in South Korea had to shut down for nearly two hours after fire broke out in a non-gaming area of the Jeju island complex.
Gaming at the casino – a foreigner-only facility – was suspended on Sunday from circa 7.12pm to around 9pm, due to a fire in a women’s sauna at the property (pictured), a venue spokesperson confirmed to GGRAsia by telephone.
According to Jeju Fire Safety Headquarters, the blaze damaged an area of 10 square metres (107.6 sq feet). The fire had been put out by 7.32pm, said the authorities.
An official at Lotte Tour Development Co Ltd – the venue’s promoter – told GGRAsia 16 employees were treated in hospital for the effects of smoke and later released.
The company official said a piece of “fire information apparatus”, designed to issue an automated alert to the local fire brigade in the event of a problem, had not functioned as intended. Oh Young-hun, governor of Jeju – a semi-autonomous jurisdiction – had requested an investigation, according to a Monday press release from Jeju Special Self-Governing Province.
Jeju Dream Tower resort was opened December 2020. A March 2022 fire damaged one cooling tower at the property, though no one was injured in that incident, it was reported at the time.
