South Korean leader demands probe of fatal collapse

South Korean President Park Geun-Hye called on Tuesday for a full investigation into the collapse of a student-packed auditorium near the southern city of Gyeongju that killed at least 10 people and injured more than 100.

More than 560 college students taking part in a freshman orientation were believed to have been attending a concert in the building when the roof caved in on Monday - apparently under the weight of heavy snow - at about 9:15 pm.

The auditorium was part of a mountain resort complex near Gyeongju that had experienced unusually heavy snowfall in the preceding week.

"It is heart-rending that so many lives were sacrificed. ... A thorough investigation must be carried out," Park told a Cabinet meeting.

The tragedy occurred as the country was still reeling from news of the bombing of a bus laden with South Korean tourists in Egypt near the Israeli border.

Police said a suicide bomber was probably behind the attack on Sunday that killed three South Koreans and their Egyptian driver.

The resort auditorium was a pre-engineered building, assembled with rigid frames and side walls - a type normally used for warehouses and aviation hangars.

Fire officials said the accumulated weight of the snow piled on the roof of the building appeared to have caused the structure to buckle.

The Ministry of Security and Public Administration said 10 people, including nine students, were confirmed dead, with two more seriously injured and 101 others suffering "bruises and cuts".

Some parents of the victims voiced outrage, saying the organizers of the orientation event had failed to ensure the students' safety. "What on earth were they doing? They didn't even bother to take a look at the site before pushing through with the event despite such heavy snowfalls," a woman, whose 18-year-old daughter was among the dead told Yonhap News Agency.

One distraught father recalled how he had texted his daughter just a few hours before the accident to check that she was enjoying herself.

"I thought she was having so much fun that she didn't have time to text me back. ... Now I can't even describe how I feel," he said.

More than 1,400 rescuers and workers, backed by heavy equipment, worked throughout the night under arc lights to clear the debris and snowfall to reach the victims.

"The ceiling came crashing down at the front near the stage," one student told the YTN news channel.

"Then pandemonium broke out and everyone started rushing toward the exits, shouting and screaming," he added.

Another witness, Kim Ga-hyun, 20, said the structure continued to cave in as the panicking students tried to escape.

"Steel frames collapsed around those who were squeezing through the exit. We had to tear down window panes to get out," she said.

AFP-AP

(China Daily 02/19/2014 page11)