Sri Lankan Man Arrested for Oil Tank Fire Says He Lit Sky Lantern Out of Curiosity

The Sri Lankan man was arrested for the sky lantern that caused the oil tank fire in Goyang, but what about the personnel at the elementary school that originally lit the sky lanterns?  Shouldn’t they also be partially to blame for lighting sky lanterns that are an obvious fire hazard?:

The man was arrested on Monday.

He told police he lit the lantern out of curiosity after he discovered two lanterns which had landed at the construction site after a ceremony at a nearby elementary school on Saturday. A gust of wind blew the lantern away just after he lit the small fuel cell inside, the man said. He chased it towards the storage station but did not see the lantern land on the grass.

“He regrets his action a lot,” said Jang Jong-ik, the chief detective of the Goyang Police Precinct, who is investigating the case, on a CBS radio program on Wednesday.

According to Jang, the Sri Lankan man has been living in Korea for three years with his younger brother. He makes around 3 million won a month.

Police concluded Monday that the man was aware that the storage facility contained flammable material and arrested him on charges of misdemeanor arson. They requested a detention warrant for him on Monday, but the prosecution dismissed the request on Wednesday, stating there is a “lack of evidence on the cause and effect of the incident.”  [Joong Ang Ilbo]

You can read more at the link, but I think the largest blame should go whoever is responsible for safety at the oil storage facility.  Just imagine the damage North Korean saboteurs could do if a simple sky lantern can do this much damage.