Woman dies saving baby from fire started by neighbour taking part in dangerous social media trend

File image: Police officers stand guard in Seoul (AFP/Getty)

A mother died while rescuing her baby from an apartment fire in South Korea that began when a neighbour tried to kill a cockroach with a makeshift flamethrower, police said.

The blaze broke out after a woman in her 20s, who lived on the second floor, sprayed a flammable substance at a cockroach and ignited it with a lighter, according to local media.

The flame spread through the nearby bed and piles of trash, the police said.

The incident occurred around 5.35am on Monday in the city of Osan, south of Seoul in Gyeonggi province, the police said.

The fire spread rapidly through the building’s fifth floor, filling the stairways with thick smoke.

Police said the woman, who has not been named, will be charged with negligence resulting in death.

The victim, a Chinese woman in her 30s, lived in the same building with her husband and two-month-old baby. As the fire engulfed their apartment, the couple called for help from a window before handing the infant to a neighbour in an adjacent block less than a metre away

The woman’s husband managed to climb across to safety, but she fell while trying to follow him. She was taken to the Ajou University hospital but died five hours later. The baby survived unharmed.

Firefighters extinguished the blaze within about 40 minutes but eight other residents were also treated for smoke inhalation.

Investigators believe the couple tried escaping through the window after finding the corridor blocked by smoke and flames. The five-storey building contained shops on the ground floor and 32 residential units above.

Authorities said the suspect had used the same pest-control method before without incident. Police are examining whether safety codes or building materials contributed to the rapid spread of the fire.

Makeshift flamethrowers, typically using lighters and aerosol sprays, have become a popular DIY pest-control trend on social media. In 2018, an Australian man set his kitchen ablaze while attempting to kill cockroaches the same way.