Contractor bows to apologize to victims of Formosa scaffolding collapse

Arriving at the press conference 30 minutes late this morning, representatives of the investor and contractor bowed their heads to apologize to the victims and all Vietnamese people after the scaffolding collapse that buried 13 lives.

Scene of the scaffolding collapse at Formosa that killed 13 people. Photo: Duc Hung

On the morning of March 27, the People's Committee of Ha Tinh province held a press conference on the collapse of the scaffolding at the concrete casting site of the Son Duong port breakwater project (Vung Ang economic zone) of Hung Nghiep Formosa Ha Tinh Iron and Steel Company Limited. Mr. Dang Quoc Khanh, Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee, said that the province has directed the health sector to provide full care for the injured victims, and the deceased have been brought home for burial.

“We have set up an investigation team to investigate the cause of the work accident, and assigned the Department of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs to coordinate with a number of relevant departments to preside. As for the investigation of other causes, a provincial investigation team will be set up to clarify. The province has also directed the contractor to fix the remaining issues, and then continue construction, so as not to affect the project's progress,” said Mr. Khanh.

Responding to questions about the contractors' responsibility in ensuring labor safety, especially since workers had previously fled after the first shaking, Mr. Pham Tran De, Deputy Head of the Management Board of Vung Ang Economic Zone, said that this has not been determined yet because "we have to wait for an investigation to know".

Colonel Nguyen Van An, Deputy Director of Ha Tinh Provincial Police, said that the provincial police have set up an investigation team and are consolidating evidence. “Currently, initial signs of criminality are being verified. After the investigation is completed, if there are enough elements to constitute a crime, a decision will be made to prosecute the case,” said Colonel An.

According to Mr. Nguyen Van Son, Director of the Department of Labor, the work of checking and inspecting labor safety is regularly directed by the province. In 2014, the province established an interdisciplinary team to inspect 16 main and subcontractors at the Formosa project, imposing a fine of about 700 million VND for labor safety violations. "After this period, Ha Tinh will train over 1,000 workers of the contractors on ensuring labor safety during construction," Mr. Son informed.

As soon as they arrived at the press conference, representatives of Formosa, contractors Samsung C&T and Samku bowed their heads to apologize to all victims and Vietnamese people for the recent heartbreaking incident. Photo: Duc Hung.

Present about 30 minutes after the press conference, the Chief Representative of Formosa in Ha Tinh, along with representatives of the two contractors Samsung C&T (the construction unit) and Samku (the unit installing the steel structure system of the scaffolding), bowed their heads to apologize to the victims and all the Vietnamese people.

“This was an unexpected incident, we are very sad. We sincerely apologize for causing inconvenience and trouble to the victims’ families and the Vietnamese people. Samsung C&T will make every effort with the highest responsibility to fix the problem,” said Mr. Chin Heng Ha, Director of Samsung C&T’s Project Office at Son Duong Port, Ha Tinh. He also thanked the departments and units that participated in the rescue operation in the scaffolding collapse.

Mr. Thai Chi Phap, Chief Representative of Formosa in Ha Tinh, said that the labor recruitment process at the construction site is all through Nibelc Company and complies with Vietnamese procedures. The equipment used on the scaffolding is also inspected and approved by relevant Vietnamese agencies before being put into use.

“When building Son Duong port, we needed to manufacture a large number of caissons to create the port, so we chose Samsung C&T as the general contractor, because this contractor is known to have the capacity to build ports. The equipment for manufacturing caissons was imported from Sweden and is extremely complex,” said Mr. Thai Chi Phap, adding that the total number of caissons that needed to be made was 309, of which 170 have been completed.

How the scaffolding at Vung Ang collapsedGraphics: Tien Thanh - Viet Chung

Earlier, at around 8:00 p.m. on March 25, scaffolding at the construction site of Vung Ang Industrial Park (Ha Tinh) collapsed, burying 13 people and injuring 28 others. After more than a day of rescue, the scene was cleared, the deceased were brought back to their hometowns for burial, and the injured are being treated at hospitals in and outside the province.

According to Vnexpress