With the major blaze at the Incheon Coupang logistics center brought under control 61 hours after it began and the evacuation order lifted, reports said follow-up damage remains.
According to Incheon City and Seohae District on the 21st, as of 1 p.m. that day, 123 households, or 190 people, were staying at temporary relief facilities set up at Sinhyeon Elementary School and Sinhyeonbuk Elementary School. That is similar to 202 people the night before.
Around 8 p.m. the previous day, as the initial firefighting took hold, the evacuation order for the area near the logistics center was lifted, but many who are worried about health problems have not been quick to return. In fact, many who came to the relief facilities do not live in the mandatory evacuation zone, but are understood to have moved on their own to avoid smoke and dust that spread in all directions.
As of the morning that day, 230 cases of health checkups and consultations had been conducted for residents at the shelters. There were also 58 cases requesting psychological stabilization due to anxiety symptoms from the sudden accident.
They mainly report physical abnormalities such as headaches, heartburn, and stinging eyes from toxic gases and soot generated as the warehouse burned. Near the area where the fire broke out, benzene, a toxic substance, did not exceed permissible limits, but at one point measured 2.5 times higher than usual.
Earlier, during the 2021 fire at the Coupang Deokpyeong Logistics Center in Icheon, Gyeonggi Province, nearby residents also pushed back, saying groundwater used for drinking was contaminated by firefighting water. A water quality test conducted by a private institution commissioned by Coupang at the time found a large amount of E. coli and deemed it unfit for drinking.
Meanwhile, Seohae District is operating three temporary medical bases on site to help those affected. It also deployed vehicles capable of measuring pollutants to monitor neighborhood air quality in real time. Relief supplies the district delivered to residents as of the morning included 4,911 fine-dust-blocking masks, 3,131 meal portions, 4,000 bottles of drinking water, and 355 daily essentials.