Toxic chemical leak in South Korea sends 16 people to hospital

On September 27, a toxic chemical leak occurred at a factory in the industrial city of Ulsan, southeastern South Korea, sending 16 people to the hospital.

Yonhap news agency quoted the Emergency Response Agency as saying that at 10:15 a.m. (local time), firefighters received a call reporting a burning smell and white smoke coming from a synthetic resin factory in Ulju district, Ulsan city, about 300km southeast of Seoul.

Smoke rose during testing of a reactor containing about 50kg of epoxy, a chemical compound, and the temperature of the reactor suddenly increased to 200 degrees Celsius.

Firefighters mobilized 42 personnel and 16 fire trucks to cool the reactor. During this process, a 15-meter long pipe near the reactor caught fire and was extinguished after 2 minutes.

All workers working at the factory at the time were safely evacuated, but 16 people, including four trainees at a nearby business center, complained of symptoms such as eye irritation and nausea and were taken to hospital for treatment.

Authorities detected small amounts of toxic chemicals such as toluene and ozone at several locations near the plant, but no additional substances have been detected so far.

Firefighters are investigating the exact cause of the leak.