A company representative in their 40s, who lost consciousness and was resuscitated after an accident involving a manhole in Incheon, has died after 8 days.
According to police and medical sources on the 14th, A (48), the representative of a wastewater pipeline inspection company, died while receiving treatment in the emergency intensive care unit of a university hospital in Incheon.
At around 9:48 a.m. on the 6th, A was rescued from a state of cardiac arrest inside a manhole on a road in Byeongbang-dong, Gyeyang-gu, Incheon, and never regained consciousness, eventually passing away after 8 days.
A's family has expressed their intention to donate his organs, and it was reported that a surgery was scheduled for that afternoon.
It has been determined that A was involved in the accident while attempting to rescue B (52), a daily worker for the company, who had collapsed inside the manhole.
B, who went missing that day, was found dead at around 10:40 a.m. on the 7th at the end of the Gulpocheon sewage treatment plant.
Investigations revealed that A's company was responsible for the subcontracting work for the 'collection pipeline (sewage pipe) databases (geographic information system) construction project' ordered by the Incheon Environmental Corporation.
The Incheon Environmental Corporation prohibited subcontracting in the project instructions, but the service company subcontracted to another company, which in turn sub-subcontracted to another firm.
Previously, the police requested an autopsy from the National Institute of Scientific Investigation and received an initial verbal opinion that he is presumed to have died from gas poisoning.
The Central Regional Employment and Labor Administration has formed a dedicated team consisting of 15 inspectors from the Major Crimes Investigation Division to investigate the Incheon manhole accident.
The police have also established a dedicated investigative team of 12 members and plan to identify the entity responsible for site safety before determining whether to apply charges of negligent homicide.