Old hot water pipe burst kills 1, injures 25
Engineers inspect a ruptured heating pipe in Goyang, Gyeonggi Province, Wednesday. / Yonhap
By Jung Hae-myoung
An underground hot water pipe that ruptured at 8:41 p.m. near Baekseok Station, killing one and injuring 25 with a high pressure steam leak, likely burst because of its age the authorities said Wednesday.
They say the 27-year-old pipe in Goyang, western Seoul, that provided heat for a nearby apartment complex, probably cracked and then gave way under pressure from the boiling water inside.
“It seems a welded part of the pipe had been rusting for a long time and it exploded when it could not cope with the pressure anymore,” an official of Goyang local government said after checking the site.
“Chances are the pipe broke because it was too old. It has been there more than 20 years,” said Lee Jin-sang, head of Korea District Heating Corp.'s Goyang office. “But we have to inspect the pipe to find the exact cause.”
After looking into the authorities reactivated the heating system at 9 a.m. Wednesday, despite the incident leaving the area flooded.
Firefighters transport an injured person to an ambulance after a heating pipe burst in Goyang, Tuesday. / Yonhap
A 68-year-old surnamed Sohn was found dead, his entire body burnt from steam that penetrated his minivan. He was killed after driving home following a dinner with his daughter and her husband to bless their marriage.
Two people have life-threatening injuries, and 23 were transferred to hospitals for burn treatment.
Rescue workers try to recover a car that sank into a sinkhole after a pipeline was ruptured. /Yonhap
Residents said the road near Baekseok Station was overflowing with boiling water and filled with people screaming. People said they thought there was a fire at first, and could not figure out what was happening due to the large amounts of steam.
“I am currently waiting for the ambulance to come to the police station. My burned leg is torturing me. The street is still covered in mud and steam,” one victim, surnamed Ham, said in a video he posted on Facebook.
Another, surnamed Park, said he was near the street when the accident happened out. “People who were crossing the road screamed after getting burnt by the hot steam,” he said.
The pipe burst cut off heat supplies to 2,800 households in Baekseok, Madu and Haengsin in Goyang. Although the heating has been returned, full repairs to the pipeline network will take four to five days.
Prime Minister Lee Nak-yon apologized to the affected residents and urged the Korea District Heating Corp. “to repair the affected pipe as soon as possible and give thorough treatment to the injured,” via Twitter.
He also ordered the authorities and officials of related ministries to examine the site.