Samsung C&T employees banned from exiting Vietnam in wake of scaffold collapse

March 31, 2015 | 09:42

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Employees of the South Korean contractor of the construction site where a scaffold collapsed and killed 13 workers in central Vietnam last week are now prohibited from leaving the country, police said Monday.

The ban is applied to those officials and employees of Samsung C&T Corp, a unit of South Korea's Samsung Group, who were involved in the accident, Nguyen Van An, deputy director of the Public Security Department of Ha Tinh Province, said without elaboration.

Thirteen Vietnamese were killed and 28 others were injured when a scaffold weighing hundreds of metric tons at the construction site, where Samsung C&T is the main contractor, in the Taiwanese-invested Formosa Industrial Park in Ha Tinh collapsed on Wednesday night.

Vietnamese investigators began looking into the case on Friday and have questioned the victims and employees of Nibelc Co., which supplied workers to the project, and Samsung C&T.

“The Samsung C&T people are not allowed to exit the country to serve the investigation,” An said.

Initial reports said the collapse was likely caused by a fault in the friction band of the hydraulic system that lifted materials at the scaffolding area.

Twenty injured victims are still in treatment in Ha Tinh, whereas six others in more critical conditions are receiving medical care in Hanoi.

Dao Xuan Ly, deputy head of the personal injury department at Ha Tinh General Hospital, said the victims are recovering well but he “could not predict anything.”

“They sustain multiple injuries and some of their body parts have been severely damaged,” he said.

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