Nitrogen leak kills two at LG Display factory

The workers were performing regular maintenance and repair of equipment on the production line before the leak at 12.43 p.m. local time, the company said in a statement.

The victims were employees of LG Display and its contractor company, all in their 30s. They were sent to nearby hospitals immediately, where one still remains in a critical condition.

The cause of the leak is under investigation, according to the company.

At the Paju factory LG Display produces large LCD panels for PC monitors and TVs. The accident had no impact on the production line, an LG Display spokeswoman said.

Nitrogen is often used to keep the equipment free of corrosion and it becomes deadly if the nitrogen level becomes too high as the body gets oxygen deprived, according to U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board. Last December, a nitrogen leak at Shin Kori nuclear plant in Ulsan, south of Seoul, killed three people.