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A probe into a fire at a private hospital for chronically ill patients in Jangseong Coun- ty, South Jeolla Province, that killed 21 and injured eight revealed that at least two pa- tients were tied to their beds, the police have announced. Three police officers questioned during the investigation testified that patients in the hospital had their ankles and wrists bound to their beds by straps and that res - cuers had to cut the straps off or evacuate patients still tied to their beds, according to the South Jeolla Provincial Police Agency. The report contradicted a statement by Lee Min-ho, head of the Damyang Fire Fight - ers’ Office, at a briefing on the day of the fire on May 28. “Media reports that some patients were tied to their beds by their wrists were not true,” he said at the time, adding, “Rescuers reported to me that they didn’t cut ropes off any patients.” The testimony is expected to help police discover why so many lives were lost in the eight minutes between the start of the fire and it being brought under control by fire- men. Lee told the press that day that the fire “ was not that big” and that most of the vic- tims died of smoke inhalation. The long-term care hospital was home to elderly patients with Alzheimer’s disease or other chronic diseases. Investigators raided the hospital to con - fiscate evidence, focusing on whether the hospital had a proper fire protection system and whether its shift system for nurses and other staff was followed. They also looked into whether there was any misbehavior by the staff in its manage - ment of patients. “We have some testimony from relatives saying patients who died in the fire had scars on their wrists apparently from being tied to their beds and were given excessive amounts of tranquilizers,” said Lim Chae- hwi, a relative of the victims. Another relative of a fatality, Kim Do-hy - eon, said there was an emergency exit near an elevator on the ward, but it could only be reached after passing through a door con - trolled by nurses or staff. Kim claimed the door prevented able-bod- ied patients from escaping the fire. The police arrested an 81-year-old patient surnamed Kim suffering from Alzheimer’s disease on suspicion of arson. Autopsies are being conducted on all 21 victims to verify their causes of death, the police said. Police announced last month that a 63-year-old former sex offender was arrest- ed in April for luring four very young girls off an elementary school playground in Yeo- ngam County, South Jeolla Province, sexually molesting them and taking nude photos. The man, identified by the surname Park, allegedly went to the playground on Satur- days when there was no guard on duty. One victim’s mother called the police when she found blood smeared on her daughter’s gar- ments. The former sailor is accused of sexual- ly assaulting two 9-year-old girls and two 8-year-old girls, according to the Mokpo branch of the Gwangju District Prosecutors’ Office. The school has a guard on duty at the play- ground but only on weekday afternoons. The first victim was reportedly molested on the school’s playground and then taken to a nearby mountain. Park assaulted her again in the woods and took a photo of her. Park met his second and third victims on the schoolyard and gave them money to go to a nearby market to buy him gum. He then allegedly took them one at a time to a remote area to sexually assault them and snapped naked pictures of them with his phone. Two hours later, Park approached the last victim and asked her to help him send a text message on his phone. He allegedly threat- ened her on the playground, sexually as- saulted her and photographed her. Park was arrested around 6 p.m. near the school after the final victim’s mother called the police after finding blood on her daugh - ter’s garments. Park was previously sentenced to three and a half years in jail in 2002 for child mo- lestation. A similar sexual assault case occurred in June 2010, when a man in his 40s walked into an elementary school in Seoul at around 10 a.m., threatened an 8-year-old girl with a knife, took her to his house and brutally raped her. PaTieNTs iN hosPiTal hiT by fire were TieD To beDs chilD molesTer NabbeD Near school North Korea’s official Korea Central Television has aired a program promoting golf as a recommended sport for the first time in the impoverished state. Filmed at a miniature golf course at the Rungna People’s Pleasure Ground in Pyongyang, the pro- gram featured a guide describing how to play the game for about 10 minutes. “First of all, to play golf you need a club and a ball,” the unnamed expert said. “You need to learn how to hold the club first.” In terms of putting tips, the guide said, “You should aim your putter’s T-shaped head at the center of the ball. If you graze the ball by mistake, it is not regarded as a stroke.” Describing the general rules of golf, the guide said, “Golf normal- ly starts from the first hole and ends at the 18th hole. Although it is a rule to start from the first hole, you can start from the ninth hole and proceed to the 18th hole, and then resume the game at the first to continue un- til the ninth.” A young couple who said they lived in Pyongyang appeared on the program and said that “the game was much different” than their expectations and that “the ball seemed to easily enter the hole.” The miniature golf course was visited by North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and his wife Ri Sol- ju when they attended the open - ing ceremony of the amusement park in July 2012, KCTV reported at the time. “Although that golf course is only for putting, the state me- dia’s report on the golf lesson is actually drawing our attention,” a Unification Ministry official said. ‘leT Them Play Golf,’ PyoNGyaNG says 23