TAIPEI, Oct. 20 (Xinhua) -- Three workers were killed and another injured after a workplace accident at a Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) construction site in Kaohsiung, southern Taiwan, on Tuesday, local media reported.
Four workers fell from height at TSMC's Fab 22 site. Three of them were pronounced dead after being taken to hospital, while the fourth was transferred to an intensive care unit following emergency treatment, according to a preliminary investigation.
The accident occurred while four workers employed by a contractor were carrying out steel-structure lifting and installation work. The workers and steel components fell from height after a suspected bolt failure on an outer connecting plate of the third-floor steel structure.
The Southern Taiwan Science Park Bureau has ordered construction halted and the scene preserved to clarify the cause and determine whether construction-safety rules were violated.
TSMC said the site falls within the contractor's scope of work and that the project has been voluntarily suspended. The company's site safety team is cooperating with the authorities' investigation and assisting the contractor with follow-up matters, it added.
TSMC, the world's largest contract chipmaker, is a key supplier to global technology giants including Nvidia. ■
