HANOI: Police in central Vietnam have detained two South Korean managers for the Samsung Group over a scaffolding collapse in March that killed 13 workers and injured dozens.
Col. Phan Ke Hien, a spokesman for Ha Tinh provincial police, said Lee Jae-myeong and Kim Jong-wook were taken into custody Tuesday. They are accused of violating labor safety regulations, which carries a penalty of up to 12 years in prison.
All of the victims were Vietnamese subcontractors who were working on a seaport breakwater project in the province, about 400 kilometers (250 miles) south of Hanoi. Samsung C&T Vietnam, a unit of South Korea’s Samsung Group, is the contractor.
State-controlled media said the workers began to flee when the scaffolding started to shake, but Lee and Kim urged them to stay.
