[Yonhap]
[Yonhap]

An accident at a Maeil Dairies factory in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi Province left one worker dead and another injured Sunday.

The Pyeongtaek Police Station said a fellow factory employee found two workers in their 50s collapsed inside a condensed-milk storage tank at around 2:58 p.m. that day.

Both were rushed to hospital, but one of the workers, identified only as A, was pronounced dead. The other, identified as B, sustained minor injuries and remains hospitalized.

No external trauma was found on either worker. The tank where they were discovered measures 3.4 meters in height and 1.9 meters in diameter.

Police believe the two may have collapsed from oxygen deprivation or asphyxiation while cleaning the inside of the sealed tank.

The tank's interior is an enclosed space with poor ventilation. When residue inside decomposes or cleaning agents are used, oxygen can be rapidly depleted and toxic gases can accumulate.

Police plan to question factory officials about the specific work being carried out, the circumstances of the accident and whether safety protocols were followed. An autopsy will also be conducted to determine the cause of death. Investigators plan to interview worker B for a detailed account of the incident once he is discharged from hospital.

"After completing the preliminary investigation, we plan to transfer the case to the serious-accident investigation team of the Gyeonggi Southern Police Agency's wide-area crime investigation unit," a police official said.


soho0902@heraldcorp.com