Prosecutors raid SK Chemicals in probe of toxic disinfectant

Prosecutors raided the headquarters of three South Korean companies Tuesday, as part of a resumed probe into allegations that a humidifier cleaner produced and sold by them caused the deaths of more than 70 people between 2006 and 2011.

Investigators from the Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office were sent to the main offices of Aekyung Industry Co., a household product maker, and retailer E-Mart, both in Seoul, and SK Chemicals Co., located in Seongnam, just south of the capital, to secure evidence related to the suspicions.

The raid comes after a group representing the victims and families of a deadly humidifier disinfectant scandal filed a complaint against 14 current and the then executives of the companies.

They lodged their first com- plaint in August 2016, but the prosecution dropped the charges citing a lack of grounds to prove the chemicals used in the Aekyung product were harmful enough to have caused the deaths.

Prosecutors recently resumed the investigation after the Ministry of Environment submitted its findings acknowledging the possible correlation.

Between 2006 and 2011, 73 people, including children and a pregnant woman, died of a pulmonary disease, with a total of 181 consumers affected by the toxicity of a humidifier disinfectant sold by Oxy Reckitt Benckiser Korea.

Former Oxy chief Shin Hyun-woo was convicted by the Supreme Court early last year of accidental homicide due to professional negligence, finalizing his six-year prison term.