Explosion at subway construction site kills 4 workers, injures 10

Published : Jun 1, 2016 - 16:38 Updated : Jun 1, 2016 - 19:16

Four people died and 10 others were injured after a subway construction site near Seoul collapsed Wednesday morning due to what is believed to be a gas explosion.

The blast took place in the city of Namyangju, east of Seoul, at 7:20 a.m. while 17 workers were welding iron bars to drill a hole through the ground, police and fire department officials said.

One worker died from the explosion, while three others were found dead after being trapped under the debris 15 meters underground.

The 10 injured were taken to nearby hospitals for treatment and three of them remain in critical condition, the officials said.

Firefighters work on a site where an explosion and a collapse killed four and injured 10 workers on Wednesday in the city of Namyangju, east of Seoul. (Yonhap)

All of the victims, who are in their 40s and 50s, were hired by subcontractor Maeil ENC to construct subway rails for POSCO Engineering & Construction.

The exact cause of the accident was not immediately known, but authorities cited a gas explosion behind the collapse. “It seems that (there was) a gas explosion from an unknown reason during the welding which caused the accident,” said an official from the fire department.

The Gyeonggi Northern District Police Agency said that it would open a joint investigation to find the cause and whether there was any misconduct, in partnership with the National Forensic Service and Korea Gas Safety Corporation.

POSCOE E&C expressed regret and apologized to the families of the deceased and wounded, vowing measures to prevent a reoccurrence.

“We feel responsibility for the accident,” POSCO E&C said. “The company will do everything in its power to deal with the aftermath of the accident, carry out a safety review and come up with due measures.”

Public Safety and Security Minister Park In-yong also visited the scene at around 10:30 a.m.

“Recently, minor and major accidents such as derailment and being jammed between machines continue to take place,” Park said. “We will investigate the cause of the accident in cooperation with relevant ministries and map out measures.”

The accident comes three days after a 19-year-old worker died after being hit by a subway on Saturday while doing maintenance work on a screen door on a platform at Guui Station.

The case has raised questions about lax safety standards and the dangerous working conditions of workers hired through subcontractors.

In 2014, irregular workers, who accounted for 20 percent of the workers at conglomerates with more than 300 staff members, made up nearly 40 percent of those who died of fatal work accidents, according to the Labor Ministry.

A 2014 survey on 791 irregular workers by the National Human Rights Commission of Korea showed that irregular workers are more vulnerable to work accidents because they tend to be assigned heavier workload and more dangerous jobs.

By Ock Hyun-ju
(laeticia.ock@heraldcorp.com)