At approximately 4:20 a.m. on the 10th, an explosion and fire broke out in the tower of POSCO Pohang Steel Mill’s 3rd Finex Plant in Jecheol-dong, Nam-gu, Pohang. The photo shows the fire extinguishing. Provided by Gyeongbuk Fire Department
This fire was not the only one that occurred at POSCO’s Pohang Steel Works. Pohang citizens living nearby are shaking with anxiety.
According to the Gyeongbuk Fire Department on the 10th, fire authorities completed the initial extinguishment of the fire that broke out at around 4:20 a.m. at Pohang Steel Works 3 Finex Factory in Nam-gu, Pohang-si in about 2 hours and 10 minutes. One person suffered burns in this accident and is currently being treated at the hospital.
Above all, the accident that day was accompanied by a loud noise and explosion reminiscent of a battlefield, which terrified nearby residents. In Haedo-dong and Songdo-dong across the Hyeongsan River next to the POSCO plant, buildings were shaking.
The problem is that these accidents are occurring one after another. Not only are nearby residents complaining of anxiety as fires occur more than once every year, but it is also being pointed out that overall insensitivity to safety, including in factory operations, is widespread. Most of them are fire incidents, except that the factory was flooded due to flooding of a nearby river caused by Typhoon Hinnamno in September 2022.
In April 2023, a fire broke out in a COG (coke oven gas) booster, an auxiliary facility near Blast Furnace 3, and in the same month, a fire broke out again at a conveyor belt for transferring raw materials near Finex Plant 3. In December, damage was sustained as fires broke out every two days around the conveyor belt that transports iron ore from the 60m high silo, which is a raw material storage area, and around the second blast furnace. This year, on February 15th, a fire at a coal transportation facility was extinguished within three hours. On August 31st, there was an accident in blast furnace No. 4 where black smoke erupted due to a facility malfunction.
A taxi driver who passed by the area that day said, “Accidents occur frequently these days, and most of them are fires, so nearby residents are anxious,” and added, “I wish we would pay more attention to safety.”
Reporter Junho Han tongil77@segye.com
Source: www.segyebiz.com
