Hyundai workers suffocate during car test at South Korea factory, prompting probe
Police and the labour ministry are investigating the incident, which reportedly involved suffocation in a testing chamber
South Korean authorities launched an investigation on Tuesday after three people died during a car test at a Hyundai Motor plant in the city of Ulsan, police said.
The two Hyundai researchers and one Hyundai contractor were found unconscious in a car at around 3:00pm while they were testing it in a “chamber,” according to Hyundai’s labour union.
“Three research workers have died at an Ulsan assembly line,” a Hyundai representative said.
“We are trying to determine the cause of the incident,” the representative said, without giving any further details.
A police officer in Ulsan said the police and the labour ministry were investigating the incident, including its cause.
A fire department official told Reuters that it first received a report at 3:17pm that the accident happened at Hyundai’s No 4 factory.