On Monday, four people died and another remains severely injured after five workers at Unitech Printed Circuit Board fell into a wastewater tank in Taiwan.
According to representatives from the company, which is a major producer of printed circuit boards, two workers were cleaning a chemical pond when one of them slipped. According to the company, the practice of working in pairs is standard operating procedure. However, as co-workers arrived on the scene to help, they fainted from inhaling toxic gas and fell into the chemical.
According to a report from the Central News Agency, the state-owned news agency, the lone survivor sustained throat burns and is still having trouble breathing. It is suspected that the workers were poisoned by hydrogen sulfide and were not wearing any protective gear during the routine maintenance operation, which is a serious breach of safety, according to the local head of the Labor Affairs Department.
According to the Taiwan News, the pond is two meters deep and first responders put on proper protective gear before going into the pond to pull the victims out.
This is IEN Now with David Mantey.
