Ulsan: One worker has died and four others were presumed dead after being discovered under a collapsed boiler tower at a thermal power plant in the southeastern city of Ulsan on Friday, with two others remaining unaccounted for, firefighting officials said. The incident occurred at a power plant operated by the Ulsan branch of Korea East-West Power Co., a state-run utility company, the previous day.

According to Yonhap News Agency, one worker was pronounced dead on Friday, while four others were feared dead. Of these four, one was taken to a hospital, and efforts to rescue the other three were ongoing. The exact locations of the two remaining unaccounted-for workers were still unknown. Initially, nine workers had been reported trapped, but two were rescued early on.

The deceased worker, aged 44, was pronounced dead around 5 a.m. after going into cardiac arrest while rescue workers attempted to pull him out, as stated by Kim Jeong-sik, an official at the Ulsan Nambu fire station. "A rescue worker injected him with painkillers and took measures to keep him warm, but he eventually passed away," Kim said, adding that the other worker spotted with him was also difficult to pull out and presumed dead.

Firefighters faced significant challenges as they worked through approximately 30 meters of steel and other debris to reach the collapse site. The boiler tower, standing at 60 meters tall, was reportedly in the process of being dismantled using explosives at the time of the collapse. The trapped individuals were all presumed to be employees of a subcontractor.