Korean foreman dies in Hanjin shipyard accident

SUBIC BAY FREEPORT – A South Korean national working here was killed early yesterday morning when a forklift ran over him at an assembly shop of the Hanjin Heavy Industries Corp.-Philippines (HHIC).

Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) administrator and chief executive officer Armand Arreza identified the fatality as Choi Dong Baek, a 50-year-old foreman at the sprawling shipyard complex located at the Redondo Peninsula in Subic Bay.

Baek is the first foreign worker killed in an accident at the shipyard.

His death raised the total number of work-related deaths to 19 since the $1.6-billion shipyard opened in 2006.

Last Friday, Raldon del Rosario, a 19-year-old worker of Redondo I Tech Construction, died on the spot when a metal base of a newly installed canvass door fell on him. His fellow worker, Camalao Bochie, 24, suffered leg injuries.

Baek was run over by a forklift operated by Menti Dacanay at around 12:45 a.m. in the vicinity of assembly shop C where metal works were being done.

Arreza said Baek was rushed to the San Marcelino Emergency Hospital where he died at around 1:30 a.m.

An investigating team was determining what caused the fatal incident, he said.

Sen. Pia Cayetano is pushing a Senate inquiry into the deaths at the Hanjin shipyard. She revealed that South Korean Ambassador Choi Jong-kyung wrote Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile warning of “substantial and negative repercussions” should the inquiry push through. – With Ric Sapnu