Heavy snow, human error cause fatal cave-in

Police stand guard at the collapsed auditorium of Mauna Ocean Resort in Gyeongju, North Gyeongsang Province, Tuesday. / Yonhap

10 killed, 101 injured in auditorium collapse at Kolon resort in Gyeongju

By Bahk Eun-ji, Nam Hyun-woo

Not only snow but also human error could be behind the collapse of an auditorium at the Mauna Ocean Resort, Monday, that claimed the lives of 10 students and injured over 100 more, according to police Tuesday.

The roof of the auditorium in Gyeongju, North Gyeongsang Province, collapsed into a “V” shape at around 9:06 p.m. The building, owned by Kolon Group, was packed with some 560 out of some 1,000 Busan University of Foreign Studies (BUFS) who were visiting the resort for a freshmen welcoming party.

Most of them managed to escape from the structure, but nine students and an employee of a recreation company lost their lives in the disaster. Two of the injured are in critical condition, while 101 sustained minor injuries, according to the Ministry of Security and Public Administration.

Some 1,400 police, soldiers and rescue officers ended search operations at noon Tuesday after all the students were accounted for.

The National Emergency Management Agency said that the roof apparently gave in under the weight of accumulated snow.

The southeastern city of Gyeongju ― along with other east coast cities ― has been hit hard by record snowfall during the past two weeks. The city government said snow covered regions near the resort to a depth of 75 centimeters. According to the Korea Meteorological Administration, a depth of 50 centimeters of snow on 1 square meter weighs some 150 kilograms, meaning the 990 square meters roof had to support at least 148 tons of snow.

Criticism is stirring that the resort maintenance staff should have removed the snow before letting the students into the building, since it was a weight-vulnerable prefab built with sandwich-panels and having no supporting pillars.

Experts said this form of structure or possible poor construction techniques may have caused the collapse, given that similarly constructed buildings in the region sustained the weight of the snow.

The auditorium only had a single exit and this became crowded with panicked students after the collapse, delaying their evacuation, survivors said.

In addition it had not undergone any safety checks since it was built in 2009, as related safety regulations only require state-authorized checks for auditoriums larger than 5,000 square meters.

Kolon Group, which owns the resort, had safety inspections conducted on all other amenities at the resort in 2012.

In the meantime, the student council and BUFS are at odds over the tragic incident. Officials claim that the student council pushed for the welcoming event at the site despite the school’s opposition. There were only three school officials at the event in which more than 1,500 students participated.

The school originally suggested holding the event on Feb. 26 at its new campus in Namsan-dong, Busan, however, the student council refused it and held it on their own.

As a result BUFS refused to pay for the event ― only providing funds to rent buses.

A professor at the school posted on his Facebook, following media reports, saying the school tried to stop the student council going ahead with the event, but it didn’t listen.

“It was initially suggested to hold the orientation event inside the new campus this year, but the student council didn’t agree. So the school didn’t provide financial support. It seems the council picked a relatively cheap place, and professors didn’t take part in the event,” said professor Lee kwang-soo.

However, bereaved family members are blaming the incident on school officials.

“Professors or schools employees should have conducted an inspection for the resort especially because of nthe recent weather conditions with heavy snow. They could have stopped the students going there if they had known how dangerous the site was,” said the mother of Ko Hye-ryun, who died in the tragedy.

The security ministry’s emergency team said it has launched an in-depth investigation into the cause of the collapse to find out if there was any shoddy building work in the auditorium, and Kolon’s management of it. Police and the prosecution have also organized teams to look into the incident.

Kolon Group Chairman Lee Woong-yeul visited the site Tuesday morning and delivered messages of condolence to the families of the dead. He pledged the group’s full support in investigating the cause of the collapse, and promised compensation for all victims.