A South Korean hotel fire that killed seven people was likely made worse by a lack of sprinkler systems, officials say.

BUCHEON, South Korea (AP) – A fire that killed seven people South Korean The situation in the hotel may have been made worse by the lack of a sprinkler system, fire officials said on Friday during an investigation into the cause of the fire.

Twelve people were charged with injuries related to the Fire that broke out on Thursday evening in the nine-story building in the city of Bucheon, west of the capital Seoul.

Officials said the fire did not spread widely after it broke out in an unoccupied room on the 8th floor. However, because the room was not protected by sprinklers, toxic smoke quickly filled the upper floors. Most of the victims were found in the rooms and hallways on the 8th and 9th floors.

The hotel, built in 2003, was not required to have a sprinkler system, said Lee Sang-don, an official at the Bucheon fire station. Although South Korea has required sprinkler systems in all buildings over six stories since 2017, the requirement does not apply retroactively to most older buildings, with the exception of some medical facilities and nursing homes.

“When we got there, (the floors) were already full of smoke, which was also pouring out of the windows,” Lee said in a briefing. He said the fire broke out in Room 810, which was unoccupied, after a guest complained about a burning smell and asked hotel management for a room change.

Five of the seven fatalities died from smoke inhalation, said Cho Seon-ho, chief of the Gyeonggi Provincial Fire Department, during a meeting with Interior and Security Minister Lee Sang-min at the scene.

The other two died when they jumped from an 8th-floor window, aiming at an inflatable cushion that firefighters had placed on the ground, Cho said. The first person hit the cushion's harder edge, causing it to flip over and fatally injuring the second person, who jumped shortly after.

A government team of firefighters, forensic experts and police began an inspection at the site on Friday to determine the cause of the fire. Cho told Lee the fire was likely caused by electrical problems.

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Kim reported from Seoul, South Korea.