In connection with the manhole accident in Incheon that resulted in two fatalities, the police and labor authorities have launched a compulsory investigation targeting the ordering party, Incheon Environmental Corporation, and the service contractors.
On the morning of July 16, the Incheon Metropolitan Police Agency and the Central Regional Employment and Labor Office dispatched around 50 personnel, including police officers and labor inspectors, to conduct searches and seizures at five locations, including the headquarters and Gajwa branch of Incheon Environmental Corporation, as well as the offices of the service contractors.
The search and seizure locations included three contractor offices located in Incheon, Seongnam in Gyeonggi Province, and Daegu. It has been reported that police secured documents related to contracts and safety management, computers, and mobile phones from these sites.
The manhole site in Byeongbangdong, Gyeyang District, Incheon, where two fatal accidents occurred. Photo by Yonhap News
Previously, the police booked seven individuals on charges of occupational negligence resulting in death, including the team leader, supervisor, and assistant supervisor in charge of the project at Incheon Environmental Corporation; the CEO and director of the primary contractor; the CEO of the subcontractor; and Mr. A (48), the deceased CEO of the secondary subcontractor. The Central Regional Employment and Labor Office also booked three officials from Incheon Environmental Corporation on charges including violations of the Serious Accidents Punishment Act, and the other four individuals on charges of violating the Occupational Safety and Health Act, respectively.
At around 9:22 a.m. on July 6, Mr. A, the CEO of a wastewater pipeline inspection company, and Mr. B (52), a day laborer, died inside a manhole on a road in Byeongbangdong, Gyeyang District, Incheon.
It was found that they had been investigating the condition of the sewage pipeline inside the manhole after receiving a secondary subcontract for the "GIS (Geographic Information System) Database Construction Service for Interceptor Sewage Pipelines," which had been ordered by the Environmental Corporation, and were poisoned by toxic gas.
Although the Environmental Corporation explicitly prohibited subcontracting in the project instructions, the service contractor subcontracted the work to another company, and that subcontractor further subcontracted it to Mr. A's company.
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