Police Add Two More Suspects in Yeocheon NCC Factory Explosion Case

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Kim Chunsu] Two additional persons have been booked in connection with the explosion accident at the Yeocheon NCC plant that resulted in 8 casualties.

The Jeonnam Provincial Police Agency's Yeocheon NCC dedicated investigation team announced on the 18th that they have additionally booked two site officials from Yeocheon NCC and its subcontractor Youngjin Technology on charges of professional negligence causing death.

They are accused of neglecting safety management and other duties at around 9:26 a.m. on the 11th at the Yeocheon NCC Yeosu Plant 3 in Hwachi-dong, Yeosu National Industrial Complex, Yeosu-si, Jeonnam, which led to an explosion accident causing 4 workers to die and 4 others to be injured.

Previously, the police had booked one site manager responsible for the process where the accident occurred, totaling three persons booked so far, and investigated 14 others including eyewitnesses and subcontractor officials as witnesses.

The accident occurred while workers were conducting a 'heat exchanger tightness test' to verify performance before restarting after cleaning the heat exchanger.

The police believe that the explosion happened while increasing internal pressure to check for air leaks, causing a cover weighing about 1 ton to fall on the workers.

The police have sent some parts of the heat exchanger to the National Forensic Service for detailed examination and plan to book additional related persons through analysis of seized items and other investigations.

The accident resulted in 8 casualties, of which 7 (3 dead and 4 lightly injured) were daily workers employed by the subcontractor Youngjin Technology, and 1 (dead) was an employee of the primary contractor Yeocheon NCC.

The Ministry of Employment and Labor is also investigating violations of the Serious Accident Punishment Act and the Industrial Safety and Health Act, and conducted a search and seizure at Yeocheon NCC headquarters office in Gongpyeong-dong, Jongno-gu, Seoul on the same day.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.