By Christabel Ndoeche
A woman is facing criminal charges after she allegedly set fire to her apartment building while trying to kill a cockroach with an improvised flamethrower, a blaze that led to the death of her neighbour, according to reports by PEOPLE and the BBC.
The unfortunate incident which occurred in South Korea according to PEOPLE, which reported the incident on Wednesday, police in Osan, about 30 miles south of Seoul, said they have issued an arrest warrant for the woman, who is in her 20s, describing her as “a flight risk.”
The fire reportedly broke out around 5:30 a.m. on Monday, October 20, after the woman allegedly used “a lighter and a flammable spray” to burn a cockroach inside her apartment.
Citing South Korea’s Yonhap News Agency, they intend to charge her with accidentally starting a fire and causing death by negligence.
The BBC, which had earlier reported the case on Tuesday, quoted local police as saying the woman admitted she “tried to torch the cockroach with a lighter and a flammable spray,” adding that “she had used the method before.”
Investigators said the fire quickly spread through the building, forcing several residents to attempt escape through windows.
