Worker found dead at Japan’s Fukushima nuclear plant

Tokyo: A worker from a subsidiary was found collapsed at a rest area at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant and was later confirmed dead, according to the Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO).

The male worker, an employee of TEPCO subsidiary Tokyo Power Technology Ltd. in his 50s, was found collapsed in a state of cardiopulmonary arrest on Thursday, while engaged in decommissioning work at the nuclear facility, TEPCO said on Friday.

The man was taken to the hospital, but later confirmed dead, reports Xinhua news agency, citing TEPCO.

According to the TEPCO, the man had been working in the plant’s “yellow zone,” which requires protective clothing, from about 11 a.m. local time the same day, during backfilling work in an area that had been excavated for a water quality survey near the plant’s No. 2 reactor.

The man had no physical abnormalities prior to the work, and he was not exposed to radiation, the TEPCO said.

It stated that it would “refrain from answering questions regarding the cause of death due to the family’s wishes,” but adding it is a “low possibility” that the death was caused by work.