Two more workers have been confirmed dead as of early Friday afternoon from the boiler tower collapse at a thermal power plant in Ulsan, as rescue efforts continued.
The collapse occurred Thursday at the Ulsan branch of Korea East-West Power Co., a state-run utility, trapping seven workers under debris.
One victim was pronounced dead at 4:53 a.m. Friday. Another worker rescued at 9:06 a.m. was pronounced dead after being taken to a hospital, while the third victim, rescued at 11:15 a.m., was pronounced dead at the scene by medical staff at a temporary emergency station before being transported to a hospital.
Fire authorities have located two more trapped under the structure who are being recovered but both are presumed dead. The remaining two are still missing.
Fire officials said rescue crews faced challenging conditions as they worked through roughly 30 metres of twisted steel and debris from the 60-metre boiler tower, which was reportedly being dismantled using explosives when it collapsed.
Kim Jeong-sik, an official at the Ulsan Nambu Fire Station, said one of the deceased, a 44-year-old worker, went into cardiac arrest while rescuers attempted to extract him. “A rescue worker injected him with painkillers and took measures to keep him warm, but he eventually passed away,” Kim said.
Initial reports suggested nine workers were trapped, but two were rescued shortly after the collapse. All those trapped are believed to have been subcontractor employees involved in dismantling operations.
East-West Power and local safety authorities said they were investigating the cause of the collapse and possible violations of safety protocols.
The government convened the second meeting of the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters Friday morning to review overnight rescue operations and coordinate support across ministries. The meeting, co-chaired by Labor Minister Kim Young-hoon and Climate, Energy and Environment Minister Kim Sung-hwan, included officials from the interior, transport, police and firefighting agencies, as well as lawmakers and local authorities.
The labor minister expressed “deep condolences” over the confirmed death and offered sympathy to the victim’s family. He instructed local governments to provide full support to victims' families and asked the Health Ministry and the Korea Occupational Safety and Health Agency to operate trauma centers to provide counseling for the injured and witnesses.
Minister Kim Sung-hwan urged emergency services to “mobilize all available resources to conduct swift rescues before the golden time passes,” adding that the government would launch safety inspections at power plant construction and demolition sites nationwide to prevent similar accidents.
mkjung@heraldcorp.com
