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Police raid offices of baseball club, city hall in probe into stadium tragedy

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By Yonhap
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A man pays tribute to a late baseball fan outside Changwon NC Park in Changwon, South Gyeongsang Province, Tuesday, following the fan's death from an incident during a Korea Baseball Organization game at the stadium. Yonhap

A man pays tribute to a late baseball fan outside Changwon NC Park in Changwon, South Gyeongsang Province, Tuesday, following the fan's death from an incident during a Korea Baseball Organization game at the stadium. Yonhap

Police in the southeastern city of Changwon raided the offices of a local baseball club and city hall Friday in their investigation into a fatal incident at the club's home stadium last month.

According to Gyeongnam Provincial Police, headquartered in Changwon, some 300 kilometers southeast of Seoul, police officers were sent to Changwon NC Park, home of the NC Dinos in the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) and to the offices of both Changwon City Hall and the city-run Changwon Infrastructure Corp.

At the city hall, departments handling safety and sports-related affairs were subject to the raid, with police believed to be looking into documents on regular safety checks at the stadium.

KBO stadiums are owned by their respective municipal governments and are operated by the home teams.

During a KBO game at Changwon NC Park on March 29, a female fan in her 20s was struck by an aluminum panel that fell off the window of the Dinos' office above a concession stand. She died of a head injury two days later. The panel, which fell from about 18 meters above the ground, was 2.6 meters long and 40 centimeters wide, and weighed about 60 kilograms.

While the Dinos and the city officials carried out safety inspections at the stadium in the aftermath, forcing multiple games there to be postponed, police and the National Forensic Service also conducted their own joint investigation.

KBO stadiums may be subject to the Serious Accidents Punishment Act, which penalizes employers or corporations for fatal accidents at a public place. The league office informed teams of that possibility at the board of directors meeting in January 2022, soon after the law took effect. Under this act, corporate owners or CEOs may face a minimum of one year in prison or a fine of up to 1 billion won ($689,275).