Kim Tae Ho, 43, Died In Nightclub Fire: Find Out What Really Happened That Night

Kim Tae Ho was one of the three victims who died in a nightclub fire in Gunsan, North Jeolla Province, on Sunday, June 17. He was 43-years-old. The comedian was in the city for a charity golf tournament when the unfortunate event happened.

"Kim Tae Ho's younger sibling confirmed to us this morning that he has passed away, and that his body is being transported from Gunsan," Korean Broadcast Comedians Association said in an official statement, per Koreaboo. Kim was having fun drinking with his friends when a 55-year-old man, named Lee, had an altercation with the club's owner.

According to reports, the suspect had an unpaid bill amounting to ₩100,000 or about $89.90. Allegedly, the owner was asking Lee to pay ₩200,000 to clear his debt, but the latter threatened the proprietor that he would burn his building down.

True to his words, he poured gasoline on the place and set it on fire. Sadly, 30 persons were injured, five of whom are in critical condition, and three died—including Kim.

Korea JoongAng Daily reported that a witness saw Lee pouring gasoline into the nightclub's entrance area and used a lighter to set it on fire. The unnamed eyewitness then called the Gunsan police to report the incident at around 10 p.m. There were over 140 firefighters who came to the scene, but unfortunately, the building was already burning. After an hour, they successfully put out the fire.

In the investigation, it was revealed that the fire started at the entrance area and the nightclub's carpeted floor carried the flames inside. As they assumed that people started to panic, the "narrow hallways and closely packed furniture" made it hard for them to escape.

The survivors used the emergency exit at the back to run away from the fire. In fact, the fire department revealed that most of the dead bodies they saw were near the emergency exit and on the stage. The victims were sent to the nearest hospitals in Gunsan.

Fortunately, the police caught Lee at his friend's house in Gunsan a couple of hours after the fire was out. It was around 1:30 a.m. on Monday, June 18. He, too, had burns on his abdomen after setting the building on flames. He was treated after his arrest. He would be charged with arson for the fire that consumed the 280 square meters of the building's interior and about 35 million won of property damage.