<Anchor> The
day (13th), a fire broke out at a chemical manufacturing plant in Yeosu, killing three people, and we obtained a video of the tank explosion.
It will also help determine the cause of the accident.
This is an exclusive report by KBC reporter Lee Gye-hyuk.
<Reporter>
At 1:37 pm on the 13th, a large structure soars into the sky with a roar as if it had been bombed.
Even at a distance of several hundred meters, the vehicle black box was turned over, and the vibration was so great that the sand on the floor became a blast.
Workers working nearby flee in haste.
[Explosion witness: It just banged and exploded.
(Tank wreckage) floated up and then fell.] After the
initial explosion, a chain of explosions continued to nearby tanks.
Of the 73 tanks in the plant, 4 exploded and 6 burned.
After the first explosion, firefighting forces from five cities and provinces, including Jeonnam, were mobilized, and the fire was barely caught in three and a half hours.
Three workers were found 30 to 40 meters away while fixing the vapor collection pipe above the tank.
[Lee Jae-gwon / Plant Labor Union Jeondong Gyeongseo Branch: These are workers who have no choice but to do what the management tells them to do.
It was blown up and disassembled in the air, giving it this disastrous appearance.] The
police investigating the explosion are focusing on understanding how the work was done and whether safety rules were complied with in a tank operation where vapors were continuously generated.
(Video coverage: Choi Bok-soo KBC)