A 48-year-old construction worker, who was run over by a truck on August 21 at a loading & unloading zone at the Lotte World Tower, passed away on August 30.
The deceased, identified only by his surname Kim, was using hand signals to direct a truck in backing up on the first floor of the Lotte World Tower construction site before being run over by the truck. He was rushed to a nearby hospital and underwent three operations. But he died at 08:50 p.m. local time, 9 days after the accident, bringing the total death toll to four.
Relevant industries and experts are increasingly leery of the construction capability of Lotte Engineering & Construction (E&C) -- Lotte Group’s construction arm in charge of the construction of S. Korea's tallest skyscraper.
Lotte E&C, which ranked 7th in terms of construction capacity as of 2005, had been mainly engaged in the construction of apartment buildings and small-scale engineering works.
“Since the construction of the Lotte World Mall is the first large-scale project for the builder, it is sometimes seen in disarray,” said a construction industry insider.
Last month, the Seoul Dongbu District Prosecutor's Office indicted Lotte E&C for violating the Industrial Safety and Health Act in 109 cases.
