A testimony from employees of a Daejeon factory that caught fire Friday, indicated that several fires had occurred before the fatal accident but were kept secret by the operators of the company.
Local broadcaster TV Chosun quoted employees of the facility in a Tuesday report as saying that the auto parts factory caught fire more frequently than had been publicly disclosed.
Besides Friday’s fire, there were two incidents in 2023 when fire trucks were dispatched to the scene.
But one worker said he would hear "once in a while" about a late-night fire at the factory when he came to work in the morning. The small fires were reportedly extinguished by employees without the help of the fire service.
Despite the frequency of the fires, the people in charge allegedly did not implement measures to prevent such incidents from occurring again. The employee claimed that contractors would come and repair the damage, because bringing in fire trucks "would complicate matters."
The head of the labor union at the Anjun Industrial, which operates the factory, called the fire a "man-made tragedy." He said union officials had frequently requested improvements to address the fire hazards.
It was reported recently that the factory kept more sodium metal on the premises than allowed by the law. The metal, which can explode or catch fire on contact with water and is usually kept in kerosene, is controlled by the Act on the Safety Control of Hazardous Substances.
The chief of the Anjun Industrial is currently under investigation for violating related laws, including the Serious Accidents Punishment Act. He is thought to have failed to carry out safety measures, such as fire prevention and having evacuation plans for the employees.
minsikyoon@heraldcorp.com
