Hyunsoo Yim, Dogyun Kim and Daewung Kim
HWASEONG, South Korea (Reuters) – The CEO of a South Korean lithium battery maker apologized on Tuesday for a massive fire at the plant that killed 23 workers, but said the company followed all necessary safety precautions and training.
Monday’s fire, which started at a plant containing 35,000 lithium batteries, produced thick smoke that spread quickly and workers on the second floor likely lost consciousness and died within seconds, fire officials said.
Firefighters with search dogs combed through a gutted structure in Hwaseong, an industrial cluster southwest of the capital Seoul, on Tuesday and found the last missing person, bringing the death toll to 23.
Seventeen of the dead were Chinese, one was Laotian. The rest were South Koreans.
Most were temporary workers at the plant, which is run by South Korean company Aricell, which is majority owned by S-Connect.
Hundreds of thousands of migrant workers in South Korea are at risk of accidents such as factory fires because they make up the majority of the workforce but are at greater risk of injury or death.
Aricell CEO Park Soon-kwan expressed his condolences to the lost workers and apologized to everyone affected by the accident.
“We will faithfully participate in the investigation by the authorities and will do our best to determine the cause of the incident and take measures to prevent such an incident from happening again,” Park told reporters at the scene of the fire.
Representatives from various agencies, including the National Forensic Science Service, police and fire departments, entered the plant as part of a joint investigation.
The fire was the latest industrial accident in a country where dozens of workers die on the job every year despite repeated calls for improved workplace safety.
“I ask the ministries of labor and industry as well as the National Fire Agency to carry out an urgent safety inspection and, if an accident is suspected, to take immediate action,” Prime Minister Han Dak-soo said at a cabinet meeting.
Park, Aricell’s CEO, said the company fully complied with safety procedures and training, but more than half of the 103 workers at the plant, including some of those who died, were contract workers sent by the staffing company.
Founded in 2020, Aricell produces lithium primary batteries for sensors and radio communications devices. The company has 48 full-time employees, according to its latest regulatory filings and LinkedIn profile.
According to S-Connect’s website, its parent company S-Connect supplies lithium-ion battery parts to Samsung (KS:) SDI, one of the largest aftermarket battery manufacturers in the country.
Regulatory filings showed Aricell recorded an operating loss of 2.6 billion won ($1.9 million) on revenue of 4.8 billion won last year, as well as a 14% increase in accumulated debt to 23.8 billion. out. Since its inception, the company has recorded net losses every year.
S-Connect shares, listed on the junior Kosdaq index, traded 1.37% lower on Tuesday after falling 22.5% on Monday following news of the fire.
A Labor Ministry spokesman told Reuters it was investigating whether Aricell complied with safety regulations and provided adequate safety training to temporary foreign workers.
Violation of these rules will result in criminal prosecution, the official said on condition of anonymity.
When the fire started, sparks flew and white smoke rose, followed by several explosions of piles of batteries, according to video footage of the inside of the plant shown in local media.
Workers tried to contain the flames using fire extinguishers, but they were unsuccessful and the factory premises were soon filled with smoke, as seen in the video.
Reuters could not independently confirm the authenticity of the video.
Many bodies remain unidentified.
Reuters journalists saw several crying family members trying to enter the cordoned off area.
($1 = 1,386.2000 won)