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Man electrocuted by 6,900 volts in Samsung’s Hungarian factory: South Korean accused disappears
Three years after a Hungarian electrician was nearly killed by a high-voltage electric shock at Samsung’s battery plant in Göd, the criminal case meant to establish responsibility is at risk of quietly grinding to a halt. The South Korean supervisor charged in connection with the accident has failed to appear in court and is believed to have left the country, leaving the victim facing the prospect that no one will ever be held to account.
A near-fatal accident at Samsung’s Göd factory
In October 2022, Attila Magyari, then 30, was working on high-voltage electrical cabinets at the Samsung factory site in Göd, north of Budapest, when 6,900 volts surged into a cable he was handling. The resulting explosion left him with life-threatening injuries and severe burns. He was airlifted to hospital by helicopter, where doctors managed to save his life.
“They didn’t even ask if I survived”
The physical recovery took more than a year. The professional and personal consequences have proved longer-lasting still. After a year on sick leave, Magyari was dismissed from his job. Speaking to RTL News, he said his employer never contacted him after the accident. “They didn’t ask whether I survived, whether I was left disabled, or whether they could help in any way. Nothing. Absolutely nothing,” he said.
A criminal investigation that barely moved
Almost immediately after leaving the hospital, Magyari filed a criminal complaint. What followed, according to his lawyer, was a protracted and repeatedly suspended investigation. It took nearly two years for prosecutors to identify a suspect and bring charges against a South Korean national who had worked as a shift supervisor at the site.
The accused fails to appear, and may have left Hungary
That long-delayed progress now appears to be unravelling. The preparatory court hearing had to be cancelled after the accused failed to appear. Hungarian media report that he is no longer in the country, a development that may have decisive legal consequences.
In the UK we have the concept of corporate liability for the acts of omissions of their employees in the conduct of their duties. I’m surprised something similiar doesn’t exist in Hungary. Surely it’s the only way to deal with negligent companies, or those that aren’t negligent at an organisational level but employed a negligent employee whose acts or omissions injured others. The employer is still responsible if one employee caused injury to another while engaged discharging the tasks required of them by their employment.
I know someone who works for Samsung in Hungary. It’s a crap employer whose interest is exploitation of Hungarians. I’m not at all surprised at the way this man was treated. This goes far beyond prosecuting a single “suspect”. That person is an obvious scapegoat to deflect responsiblity from the company. Why has the Fidesz government completely failed to take action to have Samsung take responsiblity for the life altering injury to the this worker? Fidesz is protecting Samsumg and doesn’t give a shit about the worker.