All victims of Hwaseong battery plant fire identified

Social Affairs

Published: 27 Jun. 2024, 19:32

All victims of Hwaseong battery plant fire identified

Park Soon-kwan, the head of Aricell, apologizes to the families of the victims of Monday's battery factory fire, at a welfare center in Hwaseong, Gyeonggi, on Thursday. [YONHAP]

The remains of all 23 victims of Monday's deadly battery factory fire in Hwaseong, Gyeonggi, were identified as of Thursday.

Gyeonggi fire authorities announced on Thursday afternoon that the National Forensic Service confirmed the identifications of the remaining six victims through DNA analysis, bringing the identification process to a close three days after the devastating incident.

With these final DNA results, the identities of 23 people — 17 Chinese nationals, five Koreans and one Laotian — who lost their lives in a fire at Aricell's lithium battery factory were confirmed.

The first set of DNA results, released at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, identified 11 victims — nine Chinese nationals, one Korean and one Laotian. A second set of results confirmed the identities of three more victims, all Chinese women.

"Families of the victims have been notified of the identity confirmation," a police spokesperson said.

On Wednesday, Gyeonggi police said the 23 workers suffocated.

"We have received a verbal autopsy opinion from the national forensic agency that the victims suffocated due to the fire," said Gyeonggi police's investigation team.

Aricell CEO Park Soon-kwan visited Hwaseong City Hall on Thursday afternoon to apologize to the grieving families.

"My company and I believe this tragedy is a burden that we all must bear until the end," Park said, adding that they are currently preparing measures to assist with memorials and provide follow-up support.

Three Aricell officials, including Park, were booked on Wednesday for allegedly violating the industrial safety laws in connection with the factory fire.

Park, also the chief of Aricell's parent company, S-connect, has denied accusations of illegally hiring foreign workers. He said most of his company's workers are subcontracted day laborers dispatched by a human resources agency.

Park further claimed that a human resources agency instructed the workers, which appears to be an attempt to deflect blame for not providing proper safety-related job training.

However, as more information about the lithium battery maker emerges, irregularities in its hiring system have come to light.

According to the investigation team and the Ministry of Employment and Labor on Wednesday, most of the deceased foreign workers were dispatched from Maycell, which claimed to be a human resources company.

However, Maycell is registered as a primary battery manufacturer, which raises suspicions that it disguised itself as a subcontracted battery maker to provide labor to Aricell illegally.

BY WOO JI-WON [woo.jiwon@joongang.co.kr]