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A 60-metre (196 ft) tower collapsed during demolition work at a closed thermal facility. power plant in Ulsan, south koreaThree people have died and at least two others are presumed dead as a result, officials confirmed Friday.
Five people are trapped under the debris, while two have not been traced yet.
Nine people were working at the site when the boiler tower shut down on Thursday afternoon.
Rescuers immediately rescued two people, but another employee, who was rescued later, was declared dead at the hospital on Friday morning.
Hours later, another worker was recovered and declared dead, while a doctor at the scene confirmed the death of another of the three people in the debris.
Fire officials, including Kim Jeong-shik of the Ulsan Fire Department, believe the other two also died.
The search was temporarily halted Friday morning due to concerns over unstable debris, and officials postponed planned stabilization work before resuming the search after seeing additional workers.
Mr Kim said more than 340 rescue personnel and dozens of vehicles were deployed to the site for search and rescue efforts, along with sniffer dogs, thermal cameras, endoscopes and other detection equipment.
“The rescue site is currently covered with large amounts of asbestos and glass fibre… and the space is extremely tight, forcing rescue workers to manually clear debris to carry out rescue operations,” the fire official said.
After the fall, South Korean President lee jae myung The officials were directed to mobilize all available personnel and equipment for the rescue effort while ensuring the safety of the rescue workers working in the debris.
The plant was closed in 2021 after 40 years of operation. Officials said the boiler tower – one of three at the site – had weakened as it was being prepared for demolition.