A FIRE in a factory near South Korea’s capital Seoul today killed 22 people, most of who were Chinese migrant workers, and injured eight people.

The blaze began after lithium batteries exploded while workers were examining and packaging them on the second floor of the factory in Hwaseong city at 10.30am, fire officials said, citing a witness.

They said they would investigate the cause of the blaze at the factory owned by Aricell, and whether fire extinguishing systems were at the site and if they worked.

The dead included 18 Chinese, two South Koreans and one Laotian, local fire official Kim Jin Young said.

He said the nationality of one of the dead could not be immediately verified.

In the past few decades, many people from China, including ethnic Koreans, have migrated to South Korea to seek jobs.

Like other foreign migrants from south-east Asian nations, they often end up in factories or physically demanding and low-paying jobs shunned by more affluent South Koreans.