Post by IceCat on Oct 18, 2014 7:41:41 GMT
On Friday evening there was an outdoor concert in Seongnam, just south of Seoul, attended by around 700 people in the shopping district of a technology park. Despite being told repeatedly by officials to stay off a group of around 20-30 youths climbed on top of a metal grate covering the top of a ventilation shaft of an underground garage to try to get a better view. The grate gave way under their weight, plunging them 10-20 meters down the shaft.
The plaza in Seongnam where the concert took place; the ventilator shaft is lower right.
As of this writing sixteen people are confirmed dead and eleven others were critically injured. An official responsible for safety at the venue has apparently committed suicide on Saturday hours after being questioned by police.
Many K-pop acts were performing at this festival but many news reports mention the popular girl group 4Minute because they happened to be on stage when the incident occurred. They apparently were oblivious to what was happening out in the crowd and only learned of the collapse while they were being driven back to Seoul; needless to say they were quite shaken by the news. Their label, Cube Entertainment, released the following statement:
Here is YTN's report of the tragedy:
www.billboard.com/articles/news/6288970/4minute-concert-tragedy-fans-death-south-korea
Kevin
The plaza in Seongnam where the concert took place; the ventilator shaft is lower right.
As of this writing sixteen people are confirmed dead and eleven others were critically injured. An official responsible for safety at the venue has apparently committed suicide on Saturday hours after being questioned by police.
Many K-pop acts were performing at this festival but many news reports mention the popular girl group 4Minute because they happened to be on stage when the incident occurred. They apparently were oblivious to what was happening out in the crowd and only learned of the collapse while they were being driven back to Seoul; needless to say they were quite shaken by the news. Their label, Cube Entertainment, released the following statement:
"We can't express how regretful they are for what happened. The performance wasn't solely a 4Minute show, but a stage shared by many artists for an event. During their performance, none of the members or staff were aware of the accident and finished their complete set. It wasn't until they arrived back in Seoul that they heard of the news regarding the accident. We hope the audience wasn't hurt in this accident."
Here is YTN's report of the tragedy:
www.billboard.com/articles/news/6288970/4minute-concert-tragedy-fans-death-south-korea
Kevin