On Wednesday, 9 June 2021 at 16:22 KST, a five-story building collapsed in Gwangju, South Korea during demolition, killing at least nine people and critically injuring eight. All of the casualties were passengers on a bus that was stopped at a station next to the building.[3][4][5]
Collapse
At 04:22 p.m. KST, a 5-story building was in the process of being demolished when a portion of the building collapsed onto a 7-lane road. The collapse buried a bus and two cars near a station next to the building under thousands of tonnes of rubble, and trapped dozens of passengers. All of the fatalities were bus passengers. The heap of rubble was 10 metres tall; rescuers used heavy machinery to comb through the wreckage. Nine people were found dead inside of the bus and eight others were critically injured.[4]
The collapse occurred due to the demolition company starting on the middle floor.[6]
Investigation
In the immediate aftermath of the collapse, police charged four people with involuntary manslaughter. Three were workers from two different demolition companies and another was a supervisor from another company.[7]
Police also probed whether a former member of an organized crime ring was overseeing the demolition of the building. On the 16th of June, police raided the headquarters of HDC Hyundai Development Company in Seoul to execute a search and seizure warrant ascertain whether the company was responsible for the disaster.[citation needed]
The person responsible for overseeing the demolition works was arrested at an airport after three months on the run.[8]
^"[단독] 건물 붕괴 4시간여 전 철거 현장 사진 보니… "무너질 게 무너졌다"" [[Exclusive] Demolition site photos taken 4 hours before building collapse… "What was meant to collapse has collapsed"]. The Korea Times (in Korean). 10 June 2021.
^"[단독]'붕괴 건물' 뒤편부터 허물었다.."예견된 참사"" [[Exclusive] 'Collapsed Building' Demolished from Behind... "A Disaster That Was Foreseen"]. Next - Newsis (in Korean). 9 June 2021.
^ ab"[영상] '안전장치 없었다'…광주 건물 붕괴 사고 당시 보니" [[Video] 'There was no safety device'… What I saw at the time of the Gwangju building collapse]. Seoul Economic Daily (in Korean). 10 June 2021. Retrieved 18 June 2021.
^"[CCTV 영상] 광주 5층 건물 붕괴 순간 영상" [[CCTV Footage] Footage of the moment when a 5-story building collapsed in Gwangju] (in Korean). 9 June 2021.
^"[사설] 광주 건물 붕괴의 비극" [[Editorial] The Tragedy of the Gwangju Building Collapse]. Chosun Ilbo (in Korean). 10 June 2021. Retrieved 18 June 2021.
^"[속보]'광주 붕괴 참사' 문흥식, 도피 3달 만에 공항서 체포" [Breaking News: Moon Heung-sik, the 'Gwangju Collapse Tragedy', Arrested at Airport 3 Months After Being on the Run] (in Korean).
