A gas leak at a Samsung semiconductor plant in Hwaseong, Korea, killed a worker yesterday — and local news sources are suggesting that a cover-up by Samsung could be behind the incident.
Yonhap News is reporting that a 500-litre tank of hydrofluoric acid began leaking last night at the plant. An initial leak apparently occurred at 11pm, and then a subsequent leak at 5am, in total issuing 10 litres of acid, mainly in gaseous form.
While the precise order of events remains unclear, it is suggested that Samsung then called a maintenance team to fix the problem, but did not report the incident to “appropriate authorities” until just after 3pm local time — an hour after a worker from the maintenance team died from exposure to the acid.
Four other workers were hospitalised, but they are apparently OK. Samsung is being investigated to assess what happened, and whether or not the maintenance team were issued with appropriate safety equipment. [Yohap News via The Verge]
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