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Fourteen feared killed as grate collapses at South Korea pop concert
PUBLISHED : Friday, 17 October, 2014, 7:25pm
UPDATED : Friday, 17 October, 2014, 9:30pm
Agence France-Presse in Seoul
Rescue workers carry an injured person on a stretcher after a ventilation grate collapsed at an outdoor theatre in Seongnam. Photo: AP
Girls’ band 4Minute. Photo: SCMP Pictures
Fourteen people were feared killed and 11 others seriously injured when a ventilation grate gave way while they were watching an outdoor pop concert in Seongam south of Seoul on Friday, rescuers said.
“They were standing on the ventilation grate to get a better view when it collapsed under their weight,” a spokesman for the local fire services told reporters.
Television reports said the 25 people fell more than 10 metres into an underground parking area when the grate collapsed.
Most of the dead and injured were students, the YTN news channel said, adding that the concert organisers had repeatedly urged the spectators to move off the grate before it collapsed.
The scene of the accident at an outdoor theatre in Seongnam. Photo: AP
In February, the roof caved in on a student-packed auditorium near the southern city of Gyeongju, killing 10 people and injuring more than 100. An investigation uncovered evidence of structural flaws and lax management controls.
The Sewol disaster prompted government promises of a national review of safety standards, as it became clear that poor regulatory oversight was a major contributor to the scale of the tragedy.
