Collapse at retired South Korean power plant leaves at least 3 dead

A 60-metre tower collapsed during demolition work at a decommissioned thermal power plant in the South Korean city of Ulsan, killing three people and leaving at least two others presumed dead, officials said Friday.

Five people remain trapped under the rubble, including two whom officials have yet to locate.

Nine people were working at the site when the boiler tower collapsed Thursday afternoon. Rescue workers pulled two to safety shortly after responding, but another worker rescued later was pronounced dead at a hospital early Friday.

Hours later, they pulled out another worker who was pronounced dead, and a doctor at the site confirmed the death of another worker who was among three people in the rubble. Fire officials believe the other two are also dead, according to Kim Jeong-shik, an official with Ulsan's fire department.

The search was temporarily halted Friday morning due to concerns over unstable rubble, and officials postponed planned stabilisation work before resuming the search after spotting additional workers.

More than 340 rescue workers and dozens of vehicles had been deployed to the site for search and rescue efforts, along with search dogs, thermal cameras, endoscopes and other detection equipment, Kim said.

The rescue site is currently covered with large amounts of asbestos and glass fibres and the space is extremely cramped, forcing rescue workers to manually clear the debris by hand in order to carry out the rescue operations, Kim said in a briefing.

Following the collapse, South Korean President Lee Jae Myung instructed officials to mobilize all available personnel and equipment for the rescue effort while ensuring the safety of rescue workers operating in the rubble.

The plant was decommissioned in 2021 after 40 years of operation. Officials said the boiler tower one of three at the site had been weakened as it was being prepared for demolition.