[Financial News] A man in his 50s, who went missing while surveying an underground sewage pipe from a manhole on a road in Gyeyang-gu, Incheon, was found dead approximately 25 hours later.
According to the Incheon Fire Department, at around 10:49 a.m. on the 7th, employee A (52) of a sewage inspection company was found dead at the Gulpocheon Sewage Treatment Plant.
The location where he was found was about 1 km away from the accident site, at the point where the sewage pipe connects with the treatment plant, explained the fire authorities.
A fire official stated, “When A was found, he was wearing chest waders but had no safety equipment such as an oxygen mask.”
The Incheon Fire Department responded to a report at around 9:22 a.m. the previous day that “two people had fallen into a road manhole,” rescuing company representative B (48), who was in cardiac arrest inside the manhole, and transporting him to the hospital while initiating a search for the missing A. Fortunately, B is reported to have regained breathing.
These individuals were found to be part of a subcontracted company that was further subcontracted from another company responsible for a contract issued by the Incheon Environmental Corporation for the ‘sewage pipeline (sewer) GIS (Geographic Information System) database construction service.’
It was reported that A, who first entered the manhole, fell to the pipeline floor about 10 meters deep while trying to come up to the ground, and B encountered the accident while attempting to rescue A.
The police and fire authorities suspect that they were poisoned by toxic gases such as hydrogen sulfide and carbon monoxide and plan to investigate the exact circumstances of the accident.
A police official stated, “We plan to request an autopsy from the National Forensic Service to confirm A’s exact cause of death,” and added, “An investigation will also be conducted into how the subcontracting occurred and whether the safety equipment was worn.”