[Anchor]

A young maintenance worker in his 20s was recently found dead alone in the machine room of an apartment complex in Incheon. He is presumed to have been electrocuted while taking a shower. Police have launched an investigation to determine whether the management was aware of electrical leakage and left it unaddressed.

Reporter Im Jihyeon has the story.

[Reporter]

This photo shows the interior of a machine room at an apartment complex in Yeonsu-gu, Incheon.

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

In the middle of the machine room, a showerhead and a single wooden pallet sit alone.

This is the makeshift shower area inside the apartment machine room where a man in his 20s, surnamed A, was found dead on the 23rd.

Based on preliminary autopsy findings from the National Forensic Service and other evidence, police suspect that 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 a warning 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 management was at least aware of the potential risk of electrical shocks.

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 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 told SBS, "It seems the employees arbitrarily created the shower room during boiler construction back in 2021," while the subcontracting company that managed personnel including 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 electrocution caused by electrical leakage.

[Kim Eui-taek / Attorney representing the bereaved family: We believe that the failure to fulfill obligations regarding measures against electrocution constitutes negligence, which could establish charges of professional negligence resulting in death.]

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

(Video by Choi Dae-woong | Video Editing by Kim Yoon-sung | Design by Lee Jong-jung and Han Heung-soo)