The Sri Lankan man was arrested for the sky lantern that caused the oil tank fire in Goyang, but what about the personnel at the elementary school that originally lit the sky lanterns? Shouldn’t they also be partially to blame for lighting sky lanterns that are an obvious fire hazard?:
The Sri Lankan construction worker investigated for his involvement in the fire at a gasoline storage facility in Goyang, Gyeonggi, is released by a local police precinct on Wednesday. [YONHAP]The man was arrested on Monday.
He told police he lit the lantern out of curiosity after he discovered two lanterns which had landed at the construction site after a ceremony at a nearby elementary school on Saturday. A gust of wind blew the lantern away just after he lit the small fuel cell inside, the man said. He chased it towards the storage station but did not see the lantern land on the grass.
“He regrets his action a lot,” said Jang Jong-ik, the chief detective of the Goyang Police Precinct, who is investigating the case, on a CBS radio program on Wednesday.
According to Jang, the Sri Lankan man has been living in Korea for three years with his younger brother. He makes around 3 million won a month.
Police concluded Monday that the man was aware that the storage facility contained flammable material and arrested him on charges of misdemeanor arson. They requested a detention warrant for him on Monday, but the prosecution dismissed the request on Wednesday, stating there is a “lack of evidence on the cause and effect of the incident.” [Joong Ang Ilbo]
You can read more at the link, but I think the largest blame should go whoever is responsible for safety at the oil storage facility. Just imagine the damage North Korean saboteurs could do if a simple sky lantern can do this much damage.
Inspectors look around a charred oil storage tank in Goyang, Gyeonggi Province, Monday. /Korea Times photo by Hong In-ki
The recent explosion of an oil tank in Goyang, Gyeonggi Province ― and the ensuing fire that consumed 2.6 million liters of gasoline over 17 hours ― has revealed the lack of adequate safety regulations at oil storage sites in the country.
The explosion on Sunday was caused by a sky lantern released by a young Sri Lankan migrant worker, about 300 meters from the oil storage site, police said.
The grass around the storage compound caught fire as the sky lantern, lifted by a burning flame inside, landed there, CCTV footage showed.
As there were no fire detectors installed outside the oil tank, the operators were unaware of the danger until the explosion came 18 minutes later, the police revealed in a briefing Tuesday.
Police suspect the explosion occurred as fire sparks from the grass made contact with oil and natural gas vapors emitted from the tank’s ventilation hatch. [Korea Times]
You can read more at the link, but it seems it should take much more then a fire lantern to blow up a huge oil tank like this. I try to look at this from the perspective of a North Korean saboteur. If a sky lantern can do this much damage imagine what a coordinated North Korean sabotage attempt against the nations oil storage infrastructure could do?
A large oil storage tank in Goyang, northwest of Seoul, likely exploded Sunday causing the facility to be engulfed in flames, firefighters said.
The local fire department said emergency service personnel are on site and trying to put out the flames. The storage tank is part of the oil pipeline system operated by the country.
“Because the explosion occurred when everyone was off, there are currently no reports of injuries,” a source said. He said the tank contained 77 million liters of gasoline. (Yonhap)
Dog cosmeticians trim the hair of pet dogs during an international dog show, organized by the Korea Kennel Federation, at the Korea International Exhibition Center in the city of Goyang, west of Seoul, on Aug. 28, 2015. (Yonhap)
