SEOUL, May 10 (RIA Novosti) – Five workers died in a gas leak at a steel plant in Dangjin, South Korea, Yonhap news agency reported on Friday.
The workers’ bodies were found shortly before 2 a.m. local time, inside a furnace they were repairing. They were employed by a subcontractor for Hyundai Steel Co, local media report.
Yonhap reports the authorities as saying that argon gas leaked into the furnace.
Argon gas, the first noble gas discovered, is not in itself poisonous, but in high concentrations replaces oxygen, which results in asphyxiation.
A representative of Hyundai Steel told Yonhap that argon gas is used to check the piping system of the furnace, but that it should be removed from the pipes after the test is complete.
Yonhap also cited him as saying that the workers “appear not to have equipped themselves with the required safety equipment” for gas leaks.
Hyundai Steel has offered its condolences to the families affected, and said they are “proactively cooperating” with the government investigation, Yonhap reported.
