Huge fire breaks out in S. Korea's tire plant

SEOUL, March 13 (Xinhua) -- A huge fire broke out at a tire plant in the South Korean central city of Daejeon, with no serious injury reported, Yonhap news agency said Monday.

The flame started at 10:09 p.m. local time (1309 GMT) on Sunday from the plant, run by Hankook Tire &Technology, in Daejeon, some 140 km south of the capital Seoul.

A total of 11 people, including 10 plant workers and one firefighter, have been taken to the hospital for treatment after inhaling smoke, but no serious injury has been reported yet.

Over 750 firefighters, nine helicopters and 148 equipment have been deployed to put out the fire, which is difficult to extinguish as the tires are made of flammable materials.

The blaze engulfed one of the two tire factories in Daejeon, burning about 87,000 square meters inside and all the 400,000 tire products or so in the logistics building.