By Jung Min-ho
A glass entrance door at the Lotte World Mall in southern Seoul fell and almost hit a passerby Sunday, the mall’s safety management committee said Monday.
The incident was the latest in a series of safety lapses that have recently occurred at the mall located inside the 2nd Lotte World.
According to the committee, the upper hinge of the door broke away from a first floor entrance at 10:34 a.m. Sunday. A customer passing by prevented it falling further with his hands before laying it on the floor.
As a precaution, the man was immediately taken to a nearby hospital, where he had an X-ray examination, but no injuries were found, the committee noted.
The latest incident came after the Seoul Metropolitan Government (SMG) vowed last month to shut down the mall, if additional safety lapses occur there due to improper safety management and response systems.
“We found that there was a problem with the welding on the door. We plan to replace all the German-made hinges with different products,” the committee said in a statement. “Within 18 minutes after the incident, an ambulance took him to hospital and he left there with no injuries.”
A similar incident happened in December, when another glass entrance door also on the first floor fell for the same reason and hit a customer passing by. She suffered minor head and shoulder injuries.
At that time, Lotte didn’t call 119 for an ambulance. She was treated at a medical room within the Mall and was later taken to a hospital.
During his surprise visit to the second Lotte World on Feb. 9, Lotte Group Chairman Shin Dong-bin said he would personally take care of safety management to dispel concerns over the building.
He said, “I will visit here to check safety once a week without notice. I will always keep in mind that safety is the most important thing.”
His public commitment to carrying out spot safety checks indicates how significant public concerns are regarding the 123-story skyscraper.
According to Lotte, the mall currently has about 50,000 daily visitors, about half the number who attended during the first weeks after it opened in October.
The parking lot’s occupancy rate is also declining — the mall is capable of accommodating up to 2,700 vehicles, but less than 500 cars use it daily, down from 800 late last year.
After a series of safety problems, including cracks in the mall’s aquarium, vibration problems in the movie theater and the death of a construction worker in the building, Lotte recently formed a safety management committee.