Defective exhaust pipe killed 3 high school students: police

Kim Jin-bok, commissioner of the Gangneung Police Station announces the investigation results of the Gangneung vacation house tragedy, Friday. On Dec. 18, 2018, three high school students were found dead and seven others unconscious from inhaling toxic fumes. Yonhap

By Kim Hyun-bin

A faulty exhaust pipe was the cause of the fatal gas leak accident at a vacation house in Gangneung, Gangwon Province, in mid-December, which killed three high school students and left seven unconscious, police said, Friday.

In addition, poor management of the boiler also caused the accident.

“The exhaust pipe was improperly connected to the boiler, which leaked toxic gases including carbon monoxide straight into the rooms,” Kim Jin-bok, commissioner of the Gangneung Police Station, said during a press briefing after wrapping up a two-week investigation.

“The exhaust pipe was disconnected as the boiler installer cut off 10 centimeters of the pipe, chopping off a key part that holds the pipe in place and also damaging the O-ring inside the boiler when installing the pipe.”

During the investigation police found a ventilation defect at the scene, but there were questions why the exhaust pipe was not connected to the ventilation system and requested the National Forensic Service (NFS) examine the parts.

The NFS found that Choi, who installed the boiler in 2014, did not use the right exhaust pipe for the system. He cut parts of it and forcibly installed the pipe. The parts could not hold in place due to continuous vibration and fell apart after five years.

The Gangwon Provincial Police Agency on Friday booked the nine people in charge of managing and installing the boiler including the vacation house administrator, unregistered building contractor, uncertified boiler installer, an employee at the Korea Gas Safety Corporation Gangwon Yongdong branch as well as people who inspected the boiler system and failed to see the problem.

According to police, seven of them have been booked without physical detention for accidental homicide and two arrest warrants have been filed against the head of the boiler contractor firm and the employee who installed the system.

During the investigation of the two-story property, police found that its ventilation pipe emitted a high level of fumes.

The level of carbon monoxide in the students' room was measured at 155 parts per million (ppm), close to eight times that of the standard 20 ppm.

In addition, there was no alarm system for gas leaks at the vacation home ― although this was not illegal.

The victims were seniors at Daesung High School in Seoul who took the college entrance exam in November, and then went to the vacation home with their parents' permission.

Three high school students were killed from carbon monoxide poisoning and seven were left unconscious at the time.

However, three of the seven have been discharged and another is scheduled to leave the hospital today.

Two are currently getting treatment at the Gangneung Asan Hospital, while the other two at the Wonju Severance Christian Hospital.

One of the students will be discharged from Gangneung Asan Hospital today, while the other is in consideration to leave the hospital next week.

The other two students getting treatment at Wonju Severance Christian Hospital are expected to be discharged in mid-January.