One worker was killed and another was feared dead among the seven still trapped after a boiler tower collapsed at a thermal power plant in the southeastern city of Ulsan, authorities said Friday.
The deceased, 44, was pronounced dead around 5 a.m. after going into cardiac arrest while rescue workers tried to pull him out, Kim Jeong-sik, an official at the Ulsan Nambu fire station, told reporters.
"A rescue worker injected him with painkillers and took measures to keep him warm, but he eventually passed away," Kim said, adding the other worker spotted with him was also difficult to pull out and presumed dead.
The boiler tower collapsed Thursday at a power plant of the Ulsan branch of Korea East-West Power Co., a state-run utility company. Initially, nine workers had been reported trapped, but two were rescued early on.
Rescue efforts for the remaining five have made little progress as firefighters have to work through some 30 meters of steel and other debris to reach the site of the collapse.
The exact locations of the five are still unknown.
Firefighting officials said a presumed finger was spotted under the rubble overnight and that it likely did not belong to either of the two pronounced or feared dead.
"We will carry out various rescue operations speedily once the sun rises," Kim said.
The collapsed tower was 60 meters tall and reportedly in the process of being dismantled using explosives. The trapped people were all presumed to be employees of a subcontractor. (Yonhap)
![[Exclusive] Ateez to return in November](https://wimg.heraldcorp.com/news/cms/2026/09/02/news-p.v1.20260902.76162fb0ba55493aad1c076f240d0750_R.jpg?type=h&h=120)