British-based firm Reckitt Benckiser has admitted for the first time selling a humidifier disinfectant that killed a number of people in South Korea. “This apology is just an attempt by the British company to make its Korean branch take the hit”, said Kim Deok-jong, a family member of one of the victims who protested in front of the Reckitt Benckiser headquarters in the United Kingdom past year.
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Ataur Safdar, head of Reckitt Benckiser Korea and Japan, was shouted at and physically attacked during a news conference at a Seoul hotel, which marked the first public acceptance of responsibility by the firm for its role in selling the disinfectant, called Oxy Ssak Ssak.
Reckitt Benckiser Korea apologized for the poisonous humidifier sterilizer it sold from 2001 to 2011 and vowed to provide “comprehensive compensation” for victims, although it didn’t give specifics.
“What we are concerned with is that the victims will not accept our compensation offer. We were late, five years have passed”, Mr Safdar said. “This is what we are apologising about”, Safdar said.
As he spoke, a man stepped on to the stage, shouting expletives and slapping him on the back of the neck.
Safdar said some 178 users of its products are believed to be among those suspected to have been linked to lung ailments.
Almost 100 deaths have been blamed on chemicals used in humidifier sterilizers.
Products made by Reckitt Benckiser stand on a shelf in a store in Brighton southern England, July 21, 2010. South Korean government estimates say that of the 530 victims, 220 had used only Oxy products, while 184 had used both Oxy and other brands.
Prosecutors are questioning the head of a chemical company that supplied deadly humidifier sterilizers to Oxy Reckitt Benckiser amid a widening probe into the products.
South Korea is understood to be the only country where the products were sold, according to a government official.
South Korean prosecutors have opened a criminal investigation against makers of the products.
Local discount chains that had distributed toxic humidifier disinfectant said Tuesday that they would positively review a proposal by Oxy Reckitt Benckiser to work together on a joint compensation scheme.
Last month, the company issued a written statement apologising for failing to communicate more quickly to the victims and their families.
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The manufacturer of Oxy, on the other hand, opted for a simpler measure of sending an email to reporters on April 21 saying it would cough up 5 billion won ($4.4 million) for a “humanitarian fund” – an addition to the 5 billion won Safdar’s predecessor announced as a donation in 2014.
