Shoddy parts in a ventilation grate could be responsible for a pop concert accident that killed 16 earlier this month, officials said Monday.
Victims of the accident were watching a pop concert in Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province, on Oct. 17, when the ventilation grate they were standing on collapsed, sending them on a 20-meter freefall into an underground shaft.
Causes of the accident remain uncertain, but the authorities’ report Monday suggested that the grate’s initial construction violated safety standards by using faulty construction materials and methods.
“The accident occurred when one of the grate’s two support pieces succumbed to the weight (of the victims standing on the ventilation system),” a detective with the Gyeonggi Provincial Police Agency said.
“According to our findings, the support pieces were made using poor welding techniques and the bolts, that connected the support pieces with the grate were loose.”
The reports were based on investigations made by police and officials from the National Forensic Service.
The reports follow the Oct. 18 suicide of a 37-year-old man surnamed Oh, who was one of the officials in charge of planning the concert.
The accident itself occurred as the country was still caught in the frenzy following the April Sewol ferry disaster that left hundreds dead and missing, most of them teens on a school field trip. The disaster sparked an ongoing national debate accusing a deeply imbedded culture of prioritizing economic efficiency over safety, and corruption among public officials as the accident’s main causes.
After the concert deaths, public opinion was mixed on who was to blame. Some said the deaths were tragic, but fault should be blamed on the victims themselves for standing on a ventilation system despite “common-sense safety concerns.” Others said the accident’s causes could have been human errors similar to those found in investigations of the April Sewol disaster.
koreaherald@heraldcorp.com
