3 killed in water tank burst at Samsung plant

By Nam Hyun-woo

A water tank undergoing tests at a polysilicon plant owned by Samsung Fine Chemicals in the southeastern city of Ulsan, burst Friday, killing three workers and heavily injuring 12 others.

According to police, the 1,400-ton tank was being tested for stress by injecting 1,300 tons of water in it to detect any cracks or defects. The tank failed to bear the load, causing supporting bolts in the lower section to snap and collapse.

As the tank fell, 15 workers were buried under it, while others were swept away by the massive amounts of water.

Among the fatalities were one employee of Samsung Engineering and two others from a subcontractor, Dawoo Technology.

One victim, surnamed Noh, 21, was a university student working a part time job to earn his college tuition.

The injured were rushed to hospitals. Some sustained minor injuries, but the death toll could rise because some of the injured are in critical condition, said hospital officials.

Samsung Engineering was building the tank for SMP, a joint venture between Samsung Fine Chemical and MEMC of the United States. As the 10.5-meter diameter tank was too big to transport, the builder contracted Dawoo Technology to assemble the tank at the construction site.

The engineering company injected water for three days as part of safety tests.

The steel tank was designed to irrigate sufficient amounts of water into sprinklers in the plant.

“We deeply regret the accident. The company will fully cooperate with the police investigation and the Ministry of Employment and Labor,” the company said in a statement.

Immediately after the incident, however, Samsung Engineering told reporters that five to six workers sustained injuries. After police announced the details, it changed the numbers and was criticized for attempting to scale down the incident.

Rep. Han Jeoung-ae of the main opposition Democratic Party said Samsung Engineering was exempt from the labor ministry’s safety inspection because the ministry designated the company as a “self safety management company.”

“As long as the ministry maintains a self safety management system, such an incident can always occur in the construction industry which is prone to industrial accidents. The ministry should abolish the system at least for construction companies,” Han said.