Three Hyundai Motor Plant Killed 'Asphyxiated by Exhaust Gas' Possible

[Anchor]
The three researchers who died at Hyundai Motor's Ulsan plant are likely to have been suffocated by vehicle exhaust emissions they were experimenting with.

A joint inspection of related organizations was conducted at the site.

The police are looking at facility problems or negligence in work, and the Ministry of Labor is looking at the application of the Serious Accident Punishment Act.

Reporter Oh Tae-in on the report.

[Reporter]
A vehicle was placed in an enclosed rectangular space.

This is an experimental space where three car researchers lost their lives.

This place is a "completed vehicle complex elevation chamber," where the car is put in an enclosed space and various environmental conditions such as cold and heat are made to experiment with vehicle performance and durability.

The three researchers were found unconscious in the driver's seat, passenger seat, and back seat of the vehicle, respectively.

As much as there is an accident in an enclosed space, suffocation by exhaust gas is weighed.This was also the main subject of the investigation into the first joint inspection of the site, including the police and the Ministry of Labor, which took place the day after the

accident.

[Lee Sung-ki / Team leader of Ulsan Metropolitan Police Agency: We checked about ventilation problems and overall facilities. The results of the evaluation are not even the results of the inspection, so you can think of it as confirming the overall facility.]

Hyundai Motor's Ulsan plant is a workplace subject to the "Severe Accident Punishment Act" with five or more full-time workers.

The Ministry of Employment and Labor has also suspended its work and is investigating the cause of the accident, as well as violations of the Occupational Safety and Health Act and the Serious Accident Punishment Act.

[Lee Song-gyu / President of the Korea Safety Experts Association (YTN 'NewsNOW') : In the event of a death accident because it is not in a place where safety devices are required, it is believed that manslaughter charges are applied. At the same time, it is predicted that heavy punishment will be imposed because the Occupational Safety and Health Act applies at the same time.]

Hyundai Motor issued a statement in the name of CEO Lee Dong-seok, promising to faithfully engage in the investigation and check overall safety management.

I'm Oh Tae-in of YTN.