Fire in Ulsan prompts evacuation of 7,000 workers — Korea Herald

A fire broke out at a chemical manufacturing facility in Ulsan, South Korea, on Wednesday. Due to smoke, about 7,000 workers were evacuated from S-OIL's nearby Shaheen petrochemical project, Korea Herald reports.

Fire in a toluene storage tank

According to the Ulsan fire department, the fire broke out at 9:41 a.m. About 200 firefighters and three helicopters were deployed to extinguish it. All 16 workers were evacuated from the facility itself. No casualties had been reported as of the time of publication.

According to preliminary information, the fire occurred in an outdoor tank containing 8,000 liters of toluene, a highly flammable substance. Thick black smoke rose above the fire site.

More current news is available on the UA.News Telegram channel Telegram.

Partial suspension of operations

Due to the smoke, S-OIL partially suspended operations at the neighboring Shaheen project and moved workers to safe locations. Police and fire services are to determine the exact cause of the fire.

Interior Minister Yoon Ho-jung instructed services to use all available resources to put out the fire and check whether anyone was missing.