Four people working for Unitech Printed Circuit Board Corp (燿華電子) died yesterday after an industrial accident at an electronics factory in Yilan County, local firefighters said.
Five workers fell into a wastewater tank during routine maintenance and lost consciousness, the Yilan County Fire Bureau said.
The bureau said it received a call at 10am reporting an accident at the factory.
Photo: Chien Hui-ju, Taipei Times
The workers were pulled from the tank and sent to Saint Mary’s Hospital in Luodong Township (羅東), where four died despite emergency treatment, the hospital said.
The survivor has sustained throat burns and is having breathing difficulties, the hospital said.
Unitech released a statement confirming the four deaths.
One person was cleaning the tank while another supervised, as required by standard operation procedures, the company said in the statement.
However, the worker cleaning the tank slipped to the bottom of the tank and alerted the supervisor, who then called on three other workers for help.
The others fell into the tank while trying to help the cleaner, the statement said.
The United Daily News cited Yilan County Department of Labor Affairs division Director Yang Ping-hung (楊秉宏) as saying that the workers fell into the tank after being overcome by chemical fumes.
They might have been poisoned by hydrogen sulfide, Yang said.
The workers were not wearing any protective gear during the cleaning operation, he said, adding that the accident was a serious breach of industrial safety.
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