A fire recently broke out in an apartment complex in Hyesan, Ryanggang Province, and raged for several hours before burning itself out, Daily NK has learned.
“The fire broke out in an apartment in the city on June 12 at 7 PM,” a source in the province told Daily NK on June 18. According to the source, the top floors of the building were left to burn because firefighters never arrived on the scene.
“With no way of extinguishing a fire on the top floor of the building, residents just stood around and watched,” the source said.
“The fire eventually burned itself out when there were no flammable objects left to fuel it. People didn’t even expect the fire brigade to show up,” he added.
Bad enough in a country which if it so chose could be technically and economically advanced, but there is another aspect to the story which even Orwell might have found too extreme.
The source also noted that as soon as the fire broke out, the first possessions residents rushed to protect were portraits of Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il hanging in their homes.
“They grabbed the portraits and evacuated the building,” the source said, adding, “They were so intent on making sure the portraits were safe that they didn’t have time to attend to furniture or other household items.”
We know why of course. Damage those portraits and you may as well have perished in the fire.
The source also noted that as soon as the fire broke out, the first possessions residents rushed to protect were portraits of Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il hanging in their homes.
“They grabbed the portraits and evacuated the building,” the source said, adding, “They were so intent on making sure the portraits were safe that they didn’t have time to attend to furniture or other household items.”
We know why of course. Damage those portraits and you may as well have perished in the fire.
3 comments:
I remember hearing long ago of someone interviewing a famous sculptor in his studio. (The name that pops up is Modigliani, but he never got all that famous in his lifetime...) The interviewer was asking about what work he was most proud of, and gestured at all the art treasures standing and stacked around.
He asked "If there was a fire here in your studio, and you could only carry one thing to safety, what would it be?"
The sculptor paused in apparent disbelief before answering.
"The cat, of course!"
"And so to Ikea" - again...
Sam - maybe the cat was his most constructive critic.
Scrobs - although in this case it would be Peoples Furniture Emporium No 13 with a small selection of stools on display and maybe a few wicker baskets imported from China.
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