Fire at SK hynix plant sends 8 to hospital, 4,000 workers evacuated

A fire broke out at an SK hynix chip plant in Cheongju, North Chungcheong, on Friday, sending eight employees to the hospital and prompting the evacuation of around 4,000 workers.

The fire started at around 9:55 a.m. in a gas room on the second floor of the M15X plant at SK hynix's Cheongju Campus. It was extinguished within about 10 minutes after the sprinkler system activated.

The fire is believed to have occurred while six workers were mixing fluorine and nitrogen inside a gas cabinet.

SK hynix temporarily evacuated about 4,000 employees from the campus as a precaution against a possible gas leak.

Eight employees who suffered from dizziness were taken to the company's on-site hospital. One of them, a worker who was in the gas room, developed a rash on their foot.

Fire authorities said an investigation found that no gas leak had actually occurred.

A similar incident occurred a day earlier at the Cheongju Campus, while a worker was going through the same process at a gas room on the sixth floor, which connects the M15X and M15 plants. The accident resulted in the release of a small amount of fluorine, measured at five parts per million. Fluorine is a toxic substance.

“Because the accident occurred during the same process, we will conduct a thorough investigation to determine the cause and prevent recurrences,” an SK hynix representative said. “There has been no disruption to production facilities.”

BY SHIN HYE-YEON [[email protected]]