Workers at a medium-sized power plant in Orang County were summoned to a public criticism meeting after a deadly fire broke out at the facility in late February, Daily NK has learned.
Speaking on condition of anonymity, a source in North Hamgyong Province told Daily NK on Wednesday that one person died and two were seriously injured in the Feb. 27 fire. Major equipment, including generators and motors, were consumed in the blaze.
The power plant was built more than two decades ago and faced numerous problems with aging equipment. However, the equipment was neither replaced nor repaired due to financial difficulties. Then, in late February, one of the generators caught fire and transformed into a major conflagration.
The power plant’s employees, their family members, and other people living nearby were mobilized to fight the fire, which was finally extinguished with great difficulty.
Officials from various organizations in the province, including the provincial people’s committeeNorth Korean people's committees are akin to local governmen... More and the provincial police, were then sent to the scene to investigate the exact cause of the accident. Then, on Feb. 29, two days after the fire, the officials held a public meeting attended by all the power plant employees and their family members.
Entire blame for the fire falls on workers
At the meeting, officials detailed all the deaths and injuries and the economic damage caused by the fire. They also noted the failure to adequately inspect or repair equipment at the plant before the accident, and called out several employees and their family members for not trying to put out the fire.
“The officials sent by the province said the workers on the scene and the technicians in charge should have informed their superiors if they didn’t have enough spare parts, and said their failure to act was both stupid and irresponsible. The officials scolded the workers for the serious complacency and negligence that led to the incident and said they would be held accountable,” the source said.
The meeting included a self-criticism session in which all the workers and technicians involved in the fire were paraded across the stage one by one to admit their wrongdoing and explain that the fire was the result of their own complacency.
However, after the meeting was adjourned, power plant workers and their families grumbled to themselves that provincial officials had blamed the accident on the workers and technicians, knowing full well that it was actually due to worn-out equipment.
“According to the workers, the plant’s technicians had visited large machine shops and companies in other areas looking for equipment, but had been repeatedly turned away,” the source said. “They had also made several written requests to their superiors to import the equipment, but had never received a response. The employees are very upset that the technicians and workers are being blamed for the very accident they’ve been working hard to prevent.”
Translated by David Carruth. Edited by Robert Lauler.
Daily NK works with a network of sources living in North Korea, China, and elsewhere. Their identities remain anonymous for security reasons. For more information about Daily NK’s network of reporting partners and information-gathering activities, please visit our FAQ page here.
Please send any comments or questions about this article to dailynkenglish@uni-media.net.
