Crane mishap kills shipyard worker in South Korea

Police in the city of Tongyeong in South Korea's South Gyeongsang province are investigating an accident that resulted in the death of a worker at a local shipyard late last week.

Initial reports stated that the victim, identified as a male over 60 years old, was struck by a 4.5-tonne crane at the unnamed shipyard at around 08:35 local time on Thursday, April 24.

The victim suffered cardiac arrest and was immediately brought to hospital but eventually expired.

The crane operator has since been taken into custody. Police officials said that he was not intoxicated at the time of the incident.

One official added that the noise at the shipyard at the time may have drowned out the warning sound alerting nearby personnel that the crane is in motion. As a result, the victim may not have heard the sound of the warning and was therefore unaware that he was standing in the path of the rotating crane.

Accidents resulting in deaths have occurred at a number of shipyards throughout South Korea since last year, with 18 of these recorded between January and September 2024, the Federation of Korean Trade Unions (FKTU) confirmed.

The FKTU said that among the types of recorded accidents at the country's shipyards are fires/explosions, falls from height, crushing, and drowning.

South Korean shipbuilding industry observers have attributed the accidents to increased workload at the yards following an upturn in the national economy.