4 dead, 10 feared trapped in South Korea building collapse

[HereIsTheNews]

4 dead, 10 feared trapped in South Korea building collapse

A woman trapped in the rubble of a collapsed resort building waits to be rescued in Gyeongju, South Korea, Monday, Feb. 17, 2014. (AP Photo/Yonhap, Lee Sang-hyun)

Hyung-Jin Kim, The Associated Press

Published Monday, February 17, 2014 10:39AM EST
Last Updated Monday, February 17, 2014 10:49AM EST

SEOUL, South Korea -- Four university students died and about 10 were feared trapped after the roof of a building collapsed in a South Korean city during a welcoming ceremony for freshmen, officials said Monday.

Twenty other students were rescued and taken to hospitals, according to an official at the state-run National Emergency Management Agency who spoke on condition of anonymity because he wasn't authorized to speak to the media. Another official with the agency, also speaking anonymously, confirmed the four deaths. They didn't provide further details on injuries or rescue operations.

The collapse came as about 1,000 students from Busan University of Foreign Studies gathered for a freshman orientation at a resort in the southeastern city of Gyeongju. About 450 of the students were in a building when the roof collapsed, the first official said.

South Korean media reported that heavy snowfall was believed to have resulted in the collapse, but the cause still hasn't been officially announced.

Many of the students managed to get out of the building by themselves, the first official said.

Repeated calls to the university and the resort were unanswered.

 

[Annihilation]

<iframe src="//www.youtube.com/embed/0eZOLbWqRWo?rel=0" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" width="560"></iframe>

South Korean university roof collapses : At South Korea resort roof collapses, 8 students dead



​

 

[Jar Jar Binks]

Resort roof collapse kills at least 8 students in Gyeongju, South Korea

PUBLISHED : Tuesday, 18 February, 2014, 12:47am
UPDATED : Tuesday, 18 February, 2014, 3:35am

Agence France-Presse in Seoul

The collapsed roof at the resort in Gyeongju, south of Seoul, and some of the snow that fell inside. Photo: Reuters

Eight college students were killed and dozens more feared trapped after an auditorium collapsed under heavy snow yesterday at a resort in the southern South Korean city of Gyeongju, rescue workers said.

As many as 450 students were believed to have been attending a concert in the building when the roof caved in at around 9.15pm local time.

<iframe src="//www.youtube.com/embed/PJOZNT2IRY8?rel=0" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" width="560"></iframe>

"So far we have four confirmed dead and 73 injured, 15 of them seriously," a spokesman for the local fire service said by telephone. Rescue workers were continuing to search for dozens more students who were feared trapped inside the collapsed structure, he said.

Rescuers remove the body of one of the victims.

The collapse appeared to have been caused by heavy snow which had piled up on the roof of the auditorium.

"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 towards the exits, shouting and screaming."

Pictures from the Yonhap news agency showed injured students being carried away on stretchers from the largely metallic structure that appeared to have buckled in on itself.

The collapsed roof.

"Heavy equipment has been brought in to clear the debris," the fire official said.

The auditorium was part of the Mauna Ocean Resort, which had been hosting an orientation event for close to 1,000 first-year students from a foreign language college in the southern city of Busan.

Yonhap news agency reported that the students were attending a concert in the auditorium when the roof fell in. Many of the students managed to get out of the building by themselves, it said.

The is was in an area that has experienced exceptionally heavy snowfall over the past week. Local fire officials said they had difficulty reaching the scene of the collapse because the resort is high in the mountains and it was snowing last night.

Gyeongju is a historic city that served as the capital of one of the Korean peninsula's ancient kingdoms.

Additional reporting by Associated Press