Mayor apologizes for reservoir deaths

Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon apologized Wednesday for a deadly accident at a water supply reservoir and vowed to carry out a thorough investigation into alleged violation of safety protocol.

“I feel responsible and offer my apology for failing to protect citizens’ lives and safety,” he said during a visit to the construction site where seven workers were swept away in a flood Monday. Two were confirmed dead as of Wednesday afternoon.

He said the city government would thoroughly investigate the incident and establish plans to prevent reoccurrences.

The metropolitan government will conduct an inspection on its Office of Waterworks and contractors involved in the project.

Kunhwa Engineering and Consulting, in charge of supervising the water facility construction, reportedly failed to follow flood safety rules.

The supervisory team was required to check the water level of the Hangang River and the floodgates of Paldang Dam during the rain, and suspend the work and evacuate workers in an emergency.

But its work record on the day, disclosed Wednesday, showed that the company did not take such measures.

Early Wednesday, the body of one of the six missing workers was found. He is believed to be a 48-year-old Chinese man.

By Lee Hyun-jeong (rene@heraldcorp.com)