The Ministry of Employment and Labor noted on the morning of the 25th that they are investigating whether the main contractor and subcontractors violated the Industrial Safety and Health Act and the Serious Accidents Punishment Act concerning the collapse accident at the Sejong-Anseong Expressway construction site in Anseong City.
The construction companies at the accident site that day were Hyundai Engineering and BUMYANG CONSTRUCTION. The contracting authority is the Korea Expressway Corporation.
A Ministry of Employment and Labor official said, "The obligations for specific safety measures and the management of safety and health systems required under the Serious Accidents Punishment Act rest with the main contractors, so we will focus on examining them."
The ministry also immediately sent a supervisor from the local employment and labor office to the site following the accident to issue a work stoppage order.
Furthermore, the ministry plans to establish and operate its own Central Industrial Accident Response Headquarters and Regional Industrial Accident Response Headquarters. The government will set up a Central Headquarters at business sites where three or more people die or five or more are injured.
According to the fire authority, a report was received around 9:49 a.m. that a structure had collapsed at a highway construction site in Seoun-myeon, Anseong City, Gyeonggi Province.
As of 1:39 p.m. that day, a total of 10 casualties had been reported due to the accident. Three died, five were severely injured, and one was lightly injured. Rescue efforts for the remaining individual are ongoing.
Minister Kim Moon-soo urged, regarding the accident, "Please quickly resolve the situation in cooperation with relevant agencies such as the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport."