Danger Of Electrocution Has Already Been Noticed

It has been revealed that 9 out of 11 sites in Seoul and Kyungkee, where electrocution accidents took place due to the torrential rainfall during 14th ~ 15th, were evaluated as inappropriate at the regular safety inspection. And as of the end of June, four out of ten street lamps and a half of signal lights in the nation have been evaluated as not safe.

An `electricity facility inspection report`, submitted yesterday to the National Assembly’s flood damage investigation group by the Korea Electrical Safety Coorporation (KESC), revealed such a fact.

In case of the site near Karibong Station, Seoul, where three people were killed by electrocution, at the regular safety check up in March of 2000, the KESC already found that the electric wire was damaged and no electric leakage detector was installed, and it was recorded that these incidents were already reported to the Kumchungu Ward Office. However, after the report, although there have been two more safety inspections in last April and June, the problems were not fixed, the KESC said.

And in case of the site in Shilim 8 Dong, Seoul where 2 were killed, even though the KESC notified of the danger on an electric shock to the Kwanack Ward Office through three regular safety inspections in last August, September, and November, it was not corrected.

In the meantime, according the KESC’s result of nationwide regular safety check ups on 8,755 street lamps done as of the end of June, 3,396 lamps were evaluated as inappropriate. It is a rate of 11.9 percent higher than last year’s inappropriateness rate of 29.6 percent.

The Ministry of Commerce Industry and Energy decided to let the Korea Electric Power Corporation stop electricity supply for those facilities evaluated as inappropriate. And the Ministry also decided to conduct a full-scale inspection on the country’s 420,000 street lamps, whether their electric shock detectors work normally, and the stabilizers have been installed in the lower zones.

sckim007@donga.com