ISTANBUL

A fire in a hotel, believed to have been caused by an electrical short circuit, left 7 people dead and a dozen of others injured in South Korean capital Seoul, Yonhap News Agency reported on Friday.

Built in 2004, the hotel lacks sprinklers in its rooms, and because the 2017 law requiring sprinklers in buildings over six stories doesn't apply retroactively, older buildings like this one remain more vulnerable to fire, according to the report.

"We believe an electrical factor is the most likely cause," said Cho Seon-ho, chief of the Gyeonggi-do Fire Services, stating: "Motels tend to have narrow corridors and accumulate large amounts of heat, making it difficult for guests to evacuate."

The victims included four men and three women, whereas 12 others were injured, with three in serious condition, according to the news agency.

Amid an investigation into the hotel fire, a controversy is arising over the use of firefighters' rescue mattresses, as two of the seven people killed were found to have died after jumping onto a safety air cushion.

Video footage showed that a man and a woman died after jumping out the windows on the hotel's eighth floor onto the air mattress installed by firefighters on the ground. The mattress was seen flipping after the woman landed on the edge of it, and as the man jumped four to five seconds later, he missed the mattress and hit the ground.

The Gyeonggi Nambu Provincial Police Agency said it formed an 84-person investigation team to look into why the deadly blaze occurred.