Arrest warrants sought for 5 in August’s deadly explosion at STX shipyard

Investigators sought arrest warrants Monday for five people in connection with a deadly explosion at the shipyard of local shipbuilder STX Offshore & Shipbuilding in August that claimed the lives of four workers.

Coast Guard investigators requested the warrants for the five — four of them STX workers and the other the head of a partner firm. The STX workers were accused of failing to take enough safety measures and the partner firm chief was accused of forging employment documents for the four ill-fated workers.

The explosion happened on Aug. 20 in a vessel under construction at the shipyard in the southeastern city of Changwon. Those killed, in their 30s to 50s, were painting inside a 12-meter-deep tank of the ship at the time of the accident.

Investigators have determined the blast occurred as flammable gas from the spray paint flew into a lamp lacking explosion-proof measures.
Source: Yonhap