[Anchor]
Recently, a management office employee in his 20s was found dead alone in the machine room of an apartment building in Incheon. He is presumed to have been electrocuted while taking a shower. Police have launched an investigation to determine whether the risk of electrical leakage was known yet left unaddressed.
Reporter Im Jihyeon has the story.
[Reporter]
This is a photo taken inside the machine room of an apartment building in Yeonsu-gu, Incheon.
Wires hang between various machines and pipes, and stands are placed under some home appliances such as washing machines, seemingly out of concern for electrical leakage.
Also, a single wooden stand sits alone in the middle of the machine room alongside a showerhead.
This is the makeshift shower area inside the apartment machine room where Mr. A, a man in his 20s, was found dead on the 23rd.
Based on the National Forensic Service's preliminary autopsy findings and other evidence, police estimate that Mr. A died of electrocution while showering.
The door to the machine room where the accident occurred is tightly shut, and a notice advising against the use of the shower facilities is posted on it.
It was confirmed that at the time of the accident, a notice even instructed people to check for electrical leakage before using water. This suggests that past electrical leakage incidents may have occurred, or at the very least, that the possibility of electrical leakage damage was known.
However, no preventive measures were taken, and the young employee in his 20s, who worked 24-hour shifts every other day, fell victim to the tragedy.
[Lee Jin-young / Bereaved Family Member: He was planning to work only until the end of this year and quit the management office, hoping to join a company even if it meant lowering his standards a bit. As parents, our hearts are truly broken and torn to pieces.]
The apartment management office explained to SBS, "It appears that the employees arbitrarily built the shower room during boiler construction back in 2021," while the outsourcing company managing personnel including Mr. A declined to comment, saying, "We have nothing to say."
Occupational safety and health standards stipulate that employers must install grounding to prevent the risk of electric shock from electrical leakage.
[Kim Eui-taek / Attorney for the Bereaved Family: We believe that failing to fulfill obligations regarding measures against electric shock constitutes professional negligence resulting in death.]
If the final autopsy results from the National Forensic Service confirm electrocution, police plan to review charges of professional negligence resulting in death against the apartment management and the outsourcing company, depending on the circumstances of the accident.
(Video by: Choi Dae-woong | Video Editing by: Kim Yoon-sung | Design: Lee Jong-jung, Han Heung-soo)
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