Worker killed in soil collapse at electrical installation site in Incheon

A worker in his 50s died after being buried under a soil collapse at a Korea Electric Power Corp. facility installation site.

The collapse occurred at around 3:38 a.m. Friday at a KEPCO facility construction site in Wanggil-dong, Seo-gu, Incheon.

The man, identified only by his surname initial A, was pulled from the soil in cardiac arrest and rushed to a hospital by emergency responders, but was pronounced dead.

A, a daily wage laborer, had been working to bury a box-type electrical facility — an electrical manhole — underground at the time of the accident.

He had entered a burial pit about 3 meters deep when the surrounding soil gave way, burying a significant portion of his body, investigators said.

The pit had no retaining wall or shoring structure to prevent a collapse, authorities said.

Under Occupational Safety and Health Standards regulations, employers are required to install shoring or other protective measures when workers face a risk of injury from soil collapse.

KEPCO commissioned the construction work to a private electrical contractor to relocate an existing electrical manhole — previously buried at a nearby intersection — to the accident site.

Police plan to focus their investigation on why no collapse-prevention structures were installed and who held responsibility for safety management at the site.

The Incheon Northern District Office of the Ministry of Employment and Labor also plans to investigate company officials for potential violations of the Occupational Safety and Health Act and the Serious Accidents Punishment Act, including whether proper safety guidelines were followed.