Fire Authorities Recover One More Body at Ulsan Thermal Power Plant Collapse Site... Four Still Buried

Preparations for Blasting Units 4 and 6 Begin in Earnest

The fire authorities announced on November 9 that they had recovered one more body from the collapsed boiler tower site at the Ulsan Thermal Power Plant.

On the fourth day since the accident at Korea East-West Power Ulsan Power Headquarters Ulsan Thermal Power Plant, on the 9th, boilers No. 4 and No. 6 stand precariously on either side of the collapsed boiler tower No. 5. In the accident that occurred on the 6th, seven workers were buried; three confirmed dead, two presumed dead, and two missing. Currently, five people, including two missing persons, are still buried at the collapse site. Photo by Yonhap News Agency

The Ulsan Fire Headquarters stated that from 8:10 a.m. that day, they resumed the search for the missing persons and deployed equipment such as drones. Seventeen rescue workers conducted a rescue operation for a buried individual whose arm was trapped, and after 35 minutes, at 11:05 a.m., they recovered the body. The recovered body was identified as Mr. Kim, age 44, who had survived with his arm trapped in the structure and was awaiting rescue, but ultimately died in the early morning of November 7.

Previously, the fire authorities had recovered two bodies out of the total seven people buried. At the accident site, two people presumed dead and two missing persons still remain trapped.

Meanwhile, preliminary work to demolish boilers No. 4 and No. 6, which are standing on either side of the collapsed boiler tower No. 5, will begin in earnest from today. In order to carry out the demolition, the 'pre-weakening work' on boiler No. 6, which is currently about 75% complete, must be finished. Pre-weakening work refers to the process of pre-cutting pillars and steel structures so that the large tower can collapse easily in one go during demolition. It is also necessary to guide the tower so that it does not fall toward the collapsed No. 5 or the large chimney during blasting. Personnel for the pre-weakening work may be deployed as early as today.

In addition, 'purging work,' which involves injecting nitrogen into the LNG pipelines near the site to empty them, will be carried out simultaneously. This purging process is being conducted to prevent secondary accidents, such as explosions of the pipelines, that could occur during the demolition of the towers.