Korean defendant painfully apologizes to victims of Formosa scaffolding collapse

(Baonghean.vn) - Standing in the dock, defendant Kim Jong Wook (Korean nationality) tearfully admitted his guilt and sent his sincere apologies to the workers and their relatives.

On the afternoon of December 16, the trial of the scaffolding collapse case at the Formosa Project construction site (Vung Vung Economic Zone, Ky Anh town, Ha Tinh) that killed 12 people and injured 29 people continued the questioning session.

Standing in front of the bar, Kim Jong Wook (Korean nationality) tearfully said: "The defendant is very sad and heartbroken about the recent unfortunate incident. The defendant apologizes and sends his sincere apologies to the families of the workers who died and those who were injured."

The four defendants bowed their heads to listen to the indictment.

Many relatives of the dead workers, injured workers and people from Nghe An, Ha Tinh, Quang Binh, Thanh Hoa, Quang Ngai provinces... braved the rain to attend the trial.

The faces of the relatives were filled with sadness and pain. Many people shed tears when they heard the indictment and the defendants' testimonies in court.

Difficulty in investigating scaffolding manufacturing company

The representative of the People's Procuracy of Ha Tinh province read the indictment at the trial, saying: On the night of March 25, at the construction site of the Son Duong wharf caisson (wharf No. 7) located in the construction area of ​​the Formosa Group project, a tragic scaffolding collapse occurred, killing 13 workers from Ha Tinh, Hoa Binh, Thanh Hoa, Nghe An and injuring 29 workers. When constructing the above project, the International Construction and Labor Supply Joint Stock Company (Nibelc) provided technical human resources (subcontractors) to Samsung C&T Joint Stock Company (under Samsung Group - the construction unit).

Scaffolding system imported (temporarily imported, re-exported) by Samsung C&T Corporation from abroad for construction for the investor of Formosa Project.

According to the indictment, the scaffolding collapsed when the night shift began. The site manager was Kim Jong Wook (of Samsung C&T). Lee Jae Myeong was the foreman (manager of workers) of Samsung C&T, in charge of a team of 43 workers working on the Lane2 sliding formwork system.

The Lane 2 hydraulic system operating team consists of 3 people (Nguyen Anh Tuan as team leader) in charge of hydraulic jacks from number 1 to number 16; Nguyen Thai Duc (worker) in charge of hydraulic jacks from number 17 to 32 and Tran Anh Hoan (deceased) in charge of the control panel.

At 7:30 p.m., when the Lane 2 sliding formwork system was in the process of lowering the scaffolding, a loud noise was heard, the scaffolding shook, posing a risk to labor safety. Workers working on the scaffolding panicked, stopped working, and ran to both sides of the stairs.

Kim Jong Wook and Lee Jae Myeong went up to the Lane 2 scaffolding to inspect the work but did not find out the cause of the incident that could have led to the scaffolding collapse, but asked the workers to return to work.

Lee Jae Myeong told the workers "OK, it's okay, it's okay" (in Vietnamese), asking the workers to return to work.

At this time, Tuan and Duc checked and discovered that hydraulic jacks No. 22 and 24 had dropped about 5 - 6 cm, hydraulic jacks No. 15 and 16 had dropped about 15 cm compared to the other hydraulic jacks. However, Tuan and Duc did not report to Kim Jong Wook but arbitrarily raised the hydraulic jacks to the same level as the other hydraulic jacks.

The workers on the Lane 2 platform continued working until about 19:50, when the entire Lane 2 sliding formwork system collapsed to the ground (about 20m above ground level). The consequences left 13 people dead, 29 injured, and the Lane 2 sliding formwork system completely damaged.

Related to this case is Bygging Uddemann AB Company (Sweden), which is the unit that designed, manufactured, and installed Lane 2 scaffolding for Samsung C&T Company. However, Bygging Uddemann AB Company does not have a representative in Vietnam and did not send a representative to work, so there is no basis for handling, the investigation agency has separated this content to continue the investigation.

Samsung C&T Company and Nibelc Company (workers supplier) had some violations and shortcomings in complying with regulations on labor safety training, but these violations were not considered to be the direct cause of the above accident. The investigation agency has requested the Department of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs of Ha Tinh to handle the two companies according to Vietnamese law without considering criminal liability.

"The defendant is very sad and heartbroken"

During the interrogation, the defendants Duc, Tuan and Kim Jong Wook all coldly answered the questions. The defendants Duc and Tuan both admitted that they were subjective and negligent in not reporting the problem with the scaffolding in a timely manner.

Neither Duc nor Tuan had any certificates of training in scaffolding system operation, but were assigned the responsibility of inspecting and operating the scaffolding system. Defendant Duc also admitted: "I do not have any degrees or certificates in the field of construction, I learned while working." Defendant Tuan graduated from college in telecommunications technology but worked in construction.

Korean defendant apologizes to victims and relatives of scaffolding collapse.

Kim Jong Wook denied the previous statements, saying: "The scaffolding collapse happened a long time ago, but now that he has appeared in court, "the defendant does not remember many details to answer."

When the presiding judge asked: "Have you properly performed your duties and responsibilities as a construction site commander?", Kim Jong Wook replied: "I am responsible for general management and receiving reports from my subordinates for handling. I regularly go to inspect, and I have fulfilled all my assigned responsibilities and tasks. I am very sad and heartbroken about the recent unfortunate incident."

"The defendant went up to Line 2 several times before the scaffolding collapsed. How did the defendant perceive the scaffolding collapse?" Kim Jong Wook replied: "The defendant went up to check twice, but did not detect any incident. The defendant should have ensured the safety of the workers, but the unfortunate incident had already happened. The defendant apologizes and sends his sincere apologies to the families of the deceased workers and those injured."

The presiding judge said: "The defendant was irresponsible, negligent, and indifferent when the scaffolding creaked and shook. The workers reported the incident, but he still disregarded the workers' lives and did not handle it promptly."

Mr. Thai - a worker who was a witness said: "Two Korean commanders went up to the scaffolding to check for 5-7 minutes, then said in Vietnamese that "it's okay" and forced the workers to continue working. They went down about 15 minutes later and the scaffolding collapsed."

Other workers who were witnesses also indignantly testified, saying: "Although when the incident was discovered, the workers reported it, Mr. Kim Jong Wook and Mr. Lee Jae Myeong were very irresponsible in ensuring the safety of the workers, leading to the scaffolding collapsing, many people died, very heartbreaking". Mr. Nguyen Van Tai - worker - witness said: "At that time, I was grinding the form, the scaffolding shook twice before collapsing".

The trial is scheduled to take place on December 16 and 17.

An Khanh