(LEAD) Seoul apartment-fire

(LEAD) 1 killed, 3 injured in fire at Seoul's Eunma Apartments

(ATTN: UPDATES with details)

SEOUL, Feb. 24 (Yonhap) -- One person was killed and three others injured after a fire broke out at an apartment complex in southern Seoul on Tuesday, authorities said.

The fire started at 6:18 a.m. at Eunma Apartments in Daechi-dong, Gangnam Ward, killing a teenage girl and burning the faces of two other people in the same unit, according to the ward office and firefighting authorities.

An upstairs neighbor complained of breathing difficulties due to smoke inhalation, but none of the three injured were in life threatening condition. Around 70 other residents evacuated.

The fire was contained some 30 minutes later and extinguished at 7:36 a.m.

The police and firefighting service plan to investigate the cause of the fire and determine the scale of damage.

Eunma Apartments has long been at the center of the nation's real estate policy debate due to its massive size and location in the wealthy Gangnam district.

Built in 1979, the complex failed to win reconstruction approval for years amid safety issues and strife within its reconstruction promotion association, but a plan was finalized last year to build 5,893 new apartment units in 49-floor buildings by 2030.

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