South Korea battery plant fire probe reveals Aricell flouted safety rules to meet deadline
- Police said the company ignored quality control at its factory, where a blaze killed 23 people, including 17 Chinese nationals
Nine other workers were injured in the fire at battery maker Aricell, majority owned by S-Connect. Calls to Aricell seeking comment following the police announcement were not immediately answered.
Police have been investigating the blaze, which was one of South Korea’s deadliest industrial accidents in recent years, over suspected safety violations after ordering a halt of operations.
The Labour Ministry and police had sought arrest warrants for several executives including the CEO for alleged safety violations and negligence, officials said at a news conference.
The company had failed a quality inspection in April for batteries that were intended to be supplied to the country’s military and subsequently ramped up production to make up the backlog to meet a deadline, police official Kim Jong-min said.
It hired temporary and unskilled workers, contributing to a jump in product defect rates, including overheating of finished batteries, but did not take action to contain safety risks, Kim told a news conference.
“The accident occurred as the company pushed ahead without taking measures despite problems in various steps in the production process,” he said.