4 crushed to death by falling structure at Busan shipyard

Four workers were crushed to death by a falling structure at a shipyard in this southeastern port city Wednesday, firefighters said.

The operator's cabin attached to a 40-ton crane used for shipbuilding broke away around 9:46 a.m., the Busan Fire Department in this southeastern port city said.

The cabin fell about 20 meters and rolled over on its side, crushing one person inside and three people who were standing on top of it. Three of them died instantly with the remaining one being trapped under the debris for about two hours. The man was later pronounced dead, firefighters said.

The victims were all in their late 50s or early 60s.

"I heard a loud bang and turned around to see that the cabin had fallen. I heard screaming and people saying someone had fallen," one of the workers at the scene said.

Police said the victims appeared to have been trying to take the crane apart to free up the space for other purposes.

A total of five workers had been deployed, with four of them tasked with severing the link between the cabin and the crane. The fifth worker had stayed on the ground and survived.

"It appears that they were trying to disconnect the cabin without proper safety equipment," a police officer said.

The shipyard is owned by Geochung Shipbuilding Co. It had belonged to Dae Sun Shipbuilding & Engineering Co. until last December.

Police said witnesses and construction officials will be called in for questioning to determine whether proper safety procedures had been followed. (Yonhap)