Rescue efforts continue at Ulsan power plant collapse site

The death toll from the collapse of a boiler tower at Korea East-West Power’s Ulsan Thermal Power Plant rose to three on Thursday. Rescue operations continued for two workers who remain buried and are presumed dead, while the whereabouts of two others are still unknown, raising concerns that the number of fatalities could rise to seven.

The Ulsan Fire Department said a man in his 60s was rescued at 9:06 a.m. the day after the accident but was pronounced dead soon after. About two hours later, at 11:15 a.m., a man in his 50s was declared dead by on-site medical personnel before being taken to a hospital. Another man in his 40s, whose arm had been trapped overnight between the collapsed structure and the ground, was pronounced dead at 4:53 a.m. following continuous rescue efforts. This brought the total to three fatalities, with only two of the nine workers rescued immediately after the collapse.

Of the four workers still buried, two have been located in positions suggesting they are presumed dead, and rescue efforts are underway to retrieve them. The Ulsan Fire Department is concentrating on finding the remaining two, whose locations are still unknown, within the 72-hour “golden window” for survival. Efforts are hampered by the risk of further collapses that could cause secondary entrapments.

“The site is filled with debris from steel reinforcement and other structural materials, as well as asbestos, so rescue teams are manually clearing the rubble," a fire official said. "We are also using advanced equipment such as acoustic detectors, thermal imaging cameras, endoscopes, and rescue dogs.”

Experts say inadequate safety measures during the demolition design and construction process may have contributed to the collapse. The Ulsan Police Department has formed a 70-member task force to investigate possible flaws in both the demolition design and construction phases. The Ministry of Employment and Labor also plans to examine whether there were violations of the Serious Accidents Punishment Act.


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