A huge fire tore through a 21-story hotel in Cheonan, South Chungcheong Province, on Monday, leaving one employee dead and at least 19 others injured.

The 53-year-old hotel worker was found dead on the first basement level of the Ramada Encore Cheonan hotel, authorities said. Nineteen people, including four firefighters, suffered inhalation and were sent to a nearby hospital. Three of them were severely injured. Some of them are unconscious, a source said.

Plumes of smoke come out of the Ramada Encore Cheonan hotel in Cheonan, South Chungcheong Province, on Jan. 14, 2019, in this photo provided by a citizen, Kim Soo-young. (Yonhap)
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