Five killed in construction site accident

When inspecting the construction site for the second time in the morning, Chou said construction work will be suspended until the causes of the mishap are identified and necessary improvements are made.

He said initial evaluation by civil engineers and architects showed failure to comply with the blueprint to properly erect the support frames when building massive concrete floors.

Five construction workers, including one Thai citizen and one Ghanese national, died and another was injured in the accident on Sunday afternoon.

Police identified the five as foreman Lu Chien-hsin, 40; Yeh Chi-fu, 63, and his son Yeh Chou-lung, 29, both of the Ami aboriginal tribe; Thai worker Serngtrin Sae-Chou, 30; and Ghanese worker Boadan Francis.

The worker injured was identified as Beng Yaw from Ghana.

Investigations showed that the accident took place shortly after 4 p.m. at the expansion site for the “Future City of Farglory” construction project of Farglory Land Development Co. at the intersection of Wenhua 3rd Road and Ren Ai Road in Linkuo Township.

The workers were filling pre-mixed cement, concrete, mortar and plaster for the floor slab of the first floor in the grouting process.

They found plaster was leaking from the pillars in the basement and went down to check out the situation. The grouting work then collapsed, burying all of them in the deep plaster and steel bars in the basement.

Yaw, who was not buried deep, was able to be rescued and taken to the Linkou Chang Gung Memorial Hospital in the evening.

The five others showed no vital signs when they were pulled out by firefighters and police officers.

Taipei County Government demanded that Farglory Land Development Co. stop construction work immediately pending safety checks.

Labor inspection officials from the Council of Labor Affairs have been working with civil engineers as well as the architects and contractors on the project to determine the cause of the accident.

Civil engineers pointed out that accidents like this mostly result from improper erection of support frames for the grouting job.

The ceiling of the basement is five meters high — double the normal average height — making the construction work more challenging, they said.

Upon learning about the accident Sunday afternoon, Chao Teng-hsiung, chairman of the Farglory Group, instructed his staff to make all efforts to rescue the workers.

He promised to take all steps to help take care of the families of the affected workers.

Farglory gave NT$500,000 to each of the dead workers’ families and NT$200,000 to the family of the injured one as emergency aid.

Chao expressed sorrow for the unfortunate accidents and thanked the firefighters and police officers who rushed to the scene.

He said a thorough investigation into the cause of the accident is underway and safety measures will be beefed up at all construction sites of the group.

As a major diversified conglomerate, Farglory has extensive business operations in construction, real estate development, insurance, and tourism.

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