Warning Sign Ignored... Worker Dies of Electrocution in Makeshift Shower

[Anchor]

A young management office worker in his 20s was recently found dead alone in the mechanical 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 and left unattended.

Reporter Im Jihyeon has the details.

[Reporter]

This is a photo taken inside the mechanical room of an apartment complex in Yeonsu-gu, Incheon.

Wires dangle among various machines and pipes, and stands are placed under certain home appliances such as washing machines, seemingly out of concern for electrical leakage.

Also, a single wooden pallet sits alone in the middle of the mechanical room next to a showerhead.

This is the makeshift shower area inside the apartment's mechanical room where a man in his 20s, identified as A, was found dead on the 23rd of last month.

Based on preliminary autopsy findings from the National Forensic Service and other evidence, police believe that A died of electrocution while taking a shower.

The door to the mechanical room where the accident occurred is tightly shut, and a notice advising against the use of the shower facility is posted on it.

It was confirmed that a notice instructing workers to check for electrical leakage before using water was posted at the time of the accident. This suggests that there may have been past electrical leakage incidents or that the possibility of electrical leakage damage was at least known.

However, no preventive measures were taken, and the young worker in his 20s, who worked 24-hour shifts every other day, fell victim to the accident.

[Lee Jin-young / Bereaved Family Member: He was planning to work until the end of this year, quit the management office, and 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 seems the employees arbitrarily created the shower room during boiler construction work back in 2021," while the subcontracting firm that managed personnel including A declined to comment, saying, "We have nothing to say."

The Occupational Safety and Health Standards stipulate that employers must install grounding to prevent the risk of electric shock caused by electrical leakage.

[Kim Eui-taek / Attorney for the Bereaved Family: We believe that negligence in failing to fulfill obligations regarding measures against electric shock could constitute professional negligence resulting in death.]

If the National Forensic Service's final autopsy results confirm electrocution as the cause of death, police plan to review charges of professional negligence resulting in death against the apartment management and the subcontracting firm, depending on the circumstances of the accident.

(Camera Reporter: Choi Dae-woong | Video Editor: Kim Yoon-sung | Designer: Lee Jong-jung, Han Heung-soo)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.